


Howl

by GremlinSR



Series: Silly ShikaMayu AUs [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angsty Vampire Shikamaru, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Love at first woo-woo, Mayu is a champion of consent, Pining, Ridiculousness, Werewolf Mayu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:26:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GremlinSR/pseuds/GremlinSR
Summary: Mayu is a werewolf in a pack of panthers. Shikamaru is her reluctant vampire mate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torii drags Shikamaru out on a job to rescue the son of a councilwoman. They end up running into an old friend of Torii's whom Shikamaru feels an uncomfortable pull towards. She also happens to be a crazy person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this idea when I was discussing tropes with a friend that like to pop up in Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance that basically stomp all over consent. Since I personally am a fan of enthusiastic consent, I decided to let Mayu and Shikamaru have a go at subverting some of said tropes while acting like their usual ridiculous selves. Also - Shikamaru as an angsty vampire; did I need another reason to write this?
> 
>    
> This is part of the [A Holmes in Konoha](https://archiveofourown.org/series/895512) series, you maybe be a little confused if you haven't read the first installment, [Deduction in Shadows](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11813418/chapters/26652618), but I don't think it's 100% required to enjoy this.

“What kind of an idiot kidnaps the son of a council witch?” Torii grumbled. 

“The kind with a vendetta, apparently.” Shikamaru contorted his body until it finished squeezing through the hole in the ceiling of the dilapidated and condemned apartment building they were currently breaking into.

He fell through the air and landed without a sound at the end of the eight-foot drop. His eyes took in the busted furniture and water-stained walls around him as he stepped smoothly to the side, vision remaining perfect even in the dark room. Torii landed next to him, silent and almost invisible as the shadows pulled in around them, offering them cover.

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “This is a such a bummer. I’m supposed to check in a shipment at the club. I’ll be working past dawn.”

He glanced over just in time to catch Torii’s eye roll. “And what else would you be doing besides lounging around and complaining?”

“I like lounging around and complaining.”

“Only you could manage a club that’s always chock full of vampire flunkies and be such an antisocial jerk that you never get laid.”

Shikamaru glared at him. His sex life was, unfortunately, a subject that his family was much too interested in. Torii grimaced and Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling.

“My mom is making you talk to me,” he stated as he ghosted across the floor. The door had been ripped off the hinges of what used to be a small studio apartment and lay in two pieces to the side. Shikamaru could make out the play of moonlight across the debris-littered hallway on the other side.

“Yep.”

They were talking in low enough voices that only another supernatural would be able to hear them, but Shikamaru couldn’t smell or hear anybody else in the building. Still, they stuck to the shadows as they moved out into the hallway and towards the stairs, their feet leaving no evidence of their passing.

“I’m guessing your usual partner wasn’t actually unavailable, then?”

“Oh, no, he was. I just picked up this job while he was busy as an excuse to ask you to come.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

They were moving down the stairs now. Torii sighed behind him. “Shikamaru. Usually, I wouldn’t touch this situation with a ten-foot pole, but your parents are right. You’re hurting yourself. We aren’t meant to feed continually without emotion. You run the risk of losing your humanity. You’re already showing signs. It won’t happen now, it probably won’t even happen within the next few years, but eventually, you’ll go feral if you aren’t careful.”

Shikamaru’s lips twisted and his hands clenched into fists. None of them could understand what it meant for him to do what they asked. What he’d be opening himself up for again. What he’d already suffered.

“I’ve worked too hard to come back from it. I won’t risk going there again,” he said because Torii deserved that much of an answer. After all, he'd been one of the people to help Shikamaru claw his way out of insanity.

Torii was silent until they reached the floor they needed and turned down another dank hallway. He didn’t bother to look back at his cousin. The shadows would be hiding him as thoroughly as they were Shikamaru.

“Alright. It’s your choice, Shikamaru. It’s a miracle you even survived the breaking of the bond, so I suppose every year with you is a gift.” His voice was heavy and Shikamaru had to fight the guilt that churned in his stomach for being the cause of his family’s pain. He had no choice, though. He’d rather die than risk bonding with somebody again.

They crept into the room that was right across from their target’s apartment in the building across the alley, both lost in their own thoughts, Torii right on Shikamaru’s heels. He froze when the feeling of a ward washed over his skin, already cursing himself for allowing his personal problems to distract him. Once upon a time, Shikamaru had been one of the best mercenaries in the business. This fuckup was just another reminder he didn’t need of how much things had changed.

When his skin didn’t peel off of his body in ribbons and he didn’t burst into flame, he relaxed minutely. The sounds of muttering and a sweet, wild scent reached him along with the sound of a strong heartbeat. It was just a defensive ward, then - a simple thing meant to keep the caster from being detected as long as they were inside it.

At first glance, the room looked empty except for a scaffolding that rose five feet off the ground set next to a set of tall windows. On top of it was a lump squirming beneath a musty canvas drop cloth that did nothing to cover the pleasant scent floating through the air.

“Come on, asshole, finish up. She’s not even enjoying herself. Ugh, can’t you tell when somebody’s faking it? Leave the damn apartment so I can save your hostage and go home.” The voice that drifted over to them from under the canvas was female and sounded oddly nasal.

Shikamaru frowned and edged around the room in an arc, secure in the knowledge that the person, whoever she was, wouldn’t be able to see or sense him - magically or otherwise - while the shadows that his clan was famous for controlling hid him. It wasn’t that unusual for more than one merc to try and take on a job, but usually, Torii only accepted gigs that were exclusive, not the free-for-alls that resulted from open contracts.

He shuffled up next to one of the dirty windows and stepped forward, peering at the lump. A woman was lying under the canvas with a pair of binoculars plastered to her eyes. He could only make out the curve of a cheek and the glint of blue-black hair in the moonlight peeking out of the end of her makeshift camouflage. Her smell identified her as some sort of shifter, but he’d never heard of a solo female merc with blue hair, so couldn’t place her.

Before he could make a decision on what to do Torii revealed himself next to him. “Mayu. What are you doing here?” He sounded exasperated, but not overly upset.

The woman flailed and dropped her binoculars, making a nasal squeaking sound. Her head whipped towards them, wide eyes flashing silver. Definitely a shifter, then. Shikamaru tensed but didn’t move when he saw how relaxed Torii was. Still, he didn’t drop his cover.

The woman - Mayu - put a hand to her chest. “Torii! What the fuck, why would you sneak up on me?”

The reason behind her nasally voice became clear and Shikamaru’s brows climbed up his forehead. She had a clothespin latched onto her nose, pinching it shut.

“I didn’t know who you were since you’re covered in that canvas. And you would have known I was here if you weren’t blocking your nose. What the hell, Mayu? If I were an enemy you’d be dead.”

Shikamaru watched in interest as her cheeks turned red. “It smells bad under here. It was making me sneeze,” she grumbled. “So I guess you’re the merc that Johan hired, huh? Idiot, daddy could have found him. Obviously. Since I’m here.”

Torii sighed. “So that’s why you’re here? Because Johan cut Fugaku out of the investigation?”

Mayu shrugged and picked up her binoculars. “Well, I was bored; there were no other cases.”

“Yeah, and does your Alpha know you’re here?”

She didn’t reply and Shikamaru looked over just in time to see Torii’s eyebrow twitch. “Shikamaru, drop your shroud.”

Shikamaru let the shadows fall away from him and Mayu looked over in interest. Their eyes met and Shikamaru had the odd sensation that he was falling into them. Something in his chest stirred, a part of him that had lain dormant for decades, and he took three steps forward before he could stop himself, so fast that he blurred across the room.

They were only a foot away from each other now and her eyes widened, an expression of wonder falling over her as her gaze darted across his features. “Oh,” she breathed. “You’re cute!” She raised her hand and brushed her fingers across his cheek, leaving tingles in its wake.

Torii sputtered behind him. “Are you flirting with my cousin?”

She looked over his shoulder at Torii, releasing Shikamaru from the trance-like state he'd fallen into. As his awareness flooded back in, he felt like a bucket of ice had just been tipped over his head. He hadn’t felt a pull like that towards another person in thirty years, and the memory of how that had ended made it difficult to breathe.

“So what if I am? Like I said, he’s cute.”

She turned her attention back to him and her smile, which he distantly noticed was beautiful, even with the ridiculous clothespin on her nose, faltered. She quirked her head to the side and studied him and he had a feeling she was seeing more than he wanted her to. Then understanding softened her features and she turned her attention back to the window.

Relief and disappointment hit him in equal measure. What was wrong with him? The last thing he wanted was to feel interest for a woman - any woman, but especially one of the shifters. Vampires and weres weren’t mortal enemies or anything, but they didn’t tend to get along well.

“So is the son in there?” Torii said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“Yep. Just waiting for his guard to finish destroying this poor woman’s libido for life and head down the stairs before I go to retrieve him.”

She held the binoculars out to Torii, who took them and sidled up to the window, obscuring himself in his shroud of shadow. His tone was brusque as he described the layout to Shikamaru. “Package through the window to the right. No fire escape. Guard in the room next to him, I’m guessing they’re connected. And...god, that is just sad. Is she...counting tiles on the floor?”

Mayu giggled and Shikamaru jerked from where he’d been eyeing the window and trying to ignore her presence. “I know, right? I won’t be able to even think about sex for a week after seeing that.”

Torii scoffed. “Like you were getting any anyway.”

“So mean _,”_ she said almost cheerfully.

Shikamaru accepted the binoculars from Torii when he offered them and tried not to imagine Mayu having sex. He raised an eyebrow at the extremely bored-looking blonde staring down at the tiled floor as a large, muscular man thrust into her from behind with absolutely no finesse.

“No way he isn’t paying her, otherwise she’d be asleep by now.” When Mayu laughed again his chest warmed, which was annoying.

“Yeah, she’s an escort from one of the mid-tier Houses on Fifth Ave,” Mayu offered casually.

“That how you found the goons?” Torii asked as Shikamaru looked through the window to the right. Hana Johan’s son, Yon Johan, was sitting at the end of a bed, looking worse for wear. His tux, which he’d been wearing three days ago when he’d been kidnapped, was torn and bloody and he had a lost, dazed expression on his bruised face.

“Yep. The idiots talked about it in an alley behind her place. One of my network overheard them. The guard’s a regular, so I just followed his favorite girl until she led me here.”

“Nice.” Shikamaru glanced at Torii. It wasn’t often his cousin spoke to someone with genuine respect and Shikamaru realized, despite his bitching, that he liked her. Well, the bitching probably should have clued him in - Torii always got snippy with his friends.

Mayu shrugged. “I’m part of the pack responsible for all of the Council’s high-profile and dangerous investigations. Of course, I found him.”

Shikamaru eyed her and Torii scoffed. He handed the binoculars over to her and ignored the way his heart jumped when their fingers brushed. “You’re an Uchiha? You don’t smell like a cat.”

Mayu glanced at him. “That’s because I’m a wolf.”

If Shikamaru was a cartoon character his eyes would have bugged out of his skull at her casual admission. There was only one wolf in the Uchiha Pack, an insular pack of cat shifters that were as deadly as they were snooty. He was looking at the adopted daughter of the Alpha of the pack himself, Fugaku Uchiha.

She was a bit famous, first for cracking wide a huge scandal involving the sale of lesser fae to ‘collectors’ of rare creatures by a leading member of the Council. Her second claim to fame was that she was the reason behind a raging feud between the cat and wolf shifters.

Twenty-five years ago Fugaku’s mate, Mikoto Uchiha, had found an infant wolf shifter in the woods on a full moon, half-starved and fully pitiful. She had brought her home and, after searching for her parents for a full year, they’d formally adopted her into their family.

A few years ago Mayu unveiled proof of criminal activity on the council and became instantly famous in the supernatural community. Even the humans had taken a passing interest in her. That’s when her original parents had come climbing out of the woodwork, trying to lay claim on her as part of the Konoha Wolf Pack.

Shikamaru was hazy on the details, but his mother had talked about it enough after the shitstorm of a conclave that had been called to settle the dispute that he knew the outline. It turned out the shifter - Mayu, he supposed - had been born out of wedlock to the daughter of the Wolf Alpha, Naya Nomaka.

Worse, she was born with unnaturally colored hair, a sure sign that the father was a witch. The wolves were not, to put it lightly, fans of witches thanks to a curse one placed on them centuries ago. The Alpha forced the mother to leave her daughter in the woods, though by all accounts she hadn’t seemed torn up about it. Then Mayu had become useful and lo and behold, they wanted her back.

The whole thing had escalated to the point where the packs had nearly gone to war. Yoshino’s eyes had lit up with glee when she told him about how this slip of a girl had stood up in front of all the most powerful leaders of the supernatural community, declared that the whole conclave and feud were ‘dull,’ and challenged the enforcer of the Wolf Pack to a trial by combat.

If she won, the Wolf Pack would back off. If he won, she’d join them. There’d been much posturing and swagger from the huge brute of the man whom she had challenged, and everybody except for the Uchiha had panicked and tried to get her to rescind the challenge. She’d refused. Yoshino said the enforcer had actually cried when Mayu was done wiping the floor with him.

And Shikamaru had just snuck up on her in an abandoned building and then visibly checked her out.

“So, you wanna team up? You can have the money.” Mayu’s excited voice pulled him from his thoughts. She was back to peering through the binoculars.

“Absolutely not,” Torii said. “Last time I teamed up with you we ended up at the bottom of the Uzumaki River in your brother’s vintage Ferrari, and then dragged to lock up.”

“My dad bailed you out! And it’s not like you had to pay for the car.” She rolled her eyes and Shikamaru blinked slowly as he let their conversation sink in. _This_ was the girl who had caused the cats and wolves to hate each other so much that his family ended up breaking up fights between the two groups at least once a week in the club?

“Yeah, he bailed me out only after he spent fifteen minutes outlining what he would do if _I_ ever dragged _you,_ his ‘precious daughter’ into another life-threatening situation. Like it was my fault!” Torii said, completely indignant.

Mayu brightened. “He said I was his precious daughter? Really?”

Torii rubbed his temples and Shikamaru had to fight back a laugh. It wasn’t often somebody got a rise out of Torii and Mayu had already done it twice without really even trying. “So not the point.”

Mayu sat up, pushing the old canvas off of her and ignoring the plume of dust that she sent spiraling into the air. Shikamaru let his eyes wander over her generous bust and slim torso. She winked at him when he looked back up at her face, the action absurd when paired with the pin still holding her nostrils shut.  

She put the binoculars into a fanny pack around her waist that had to be spelled to be bigger on the inside, then plucked the clothespin off her nose and added that, as well. Her nostrils flared and for a moment her eyes flicked to Shikamaru and she licked her lips. Mayu leaned towards him, then seemed to realize what she was doing. She shook her head hard, once, and turned away from him.

“Suit yourself,” she said to Torii and reached back to tighten her short ponytail.

She hopped off the scaffolding and landed lightly on her feet. She was dressed in all black, pants and shirt fitted but made of a material that stretched with her movements. She turned and grabbed the window, pulling up on it. The way it screeched made Shikamaru think that it didn’t go easily, but she barely strained. Strength was something the wolves had in spades - along with short tempers and noses that were much stronger than any vampire’s.

“What are you doing?” Torii’s eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion.

She hopped up on the sill and turned to grin at them. Silver flashed in her eyes and her body trembled in excitement. Shikamaru swallowed as her scent washed across him, carried by the slight breeze blowing past her. “Don’t worry. You can still have the money.”

“Wait!” Mayu launched herself forward, ignoring Torii’s command. Shikamaru darted to the window. Her body sailed through the space between the buildings, arms stretched out to the sides and ponytail fluttering in the wind. She landed soundlessly on a tiny ledge below the window that looked into the room Yon Johan was in.

“Goddamn it,” Torii said.

Shikamaru’s jaw dropped when she put her fingers on either side of the window sill, twisted around, and pulled it out of the building, frame and all. Mayu tossed it behind her without care and he clearly heard her say the words, “Uchiha Investigative Unit! I’m here to rescue you!” just before the window hit the pavement with the crash of breaking glass.

“I’ll go get the car, you back her up,” Torii said, then blurred out of the room.

Shikamaru put a hand to his forehead. This was not how a Nara did things. They planned things out, they snuck in, wrapped in shadow, did the job with as little fuss as possible, and snuck back out. No wonder Torii looked so irritated by Mayu’s presence.

His attention was brought back to the situation when he heard a high-pitched scream. Mayu had grabbed the mark and leapt out of the third-story room with him. Since he was a mundane - he hadn’t inherited any of his mother’s powers - he was understandably upset by the move.

Shikamaru pulled the shadows around him and jumped lightly from the open window just as Mayu landed and set the poor man on his feet, unharmed. The night air caressed his skin as he fell and he landed soundlessly. Not that it mattered how much noise he made since about six highly-armed individuals had just poured out of the building and were now yelling at Mayu to give their captive back.

She was smiling. There were multiple guns trained on her, held by large, intimidating figures of varying species, and she was bouncing up on the balls of her feet, face lit up like she’d just been handed a million dollars instead of possible death. “You should probably know, I’m Mayu Uchiha of the Uchiha pack. Since I’m such a nice person, I’ll let you go back inside and wait for my dad to get here and arrest you.”

She beamed at them and they all exchanged looks, probably stuck between discomfort at the mention of the Uchiha Pack and disbelief at her craziness. “He’s a little busy arresting your boss as we speak, if he got my earlier email, but he should be here soon.”

The man who’d been failing at sex earlier took a step forward and Mayu stifled a giggle behind her hand when her attention was pulled to him. “You got no idea who our boss is.”

“Oh, so you _weren’t_ hired by Hana Johan?”

Behind her, Yon didn’t even look surprised, just defeated, and Shikamaru’s brow furrowed even as he crept up behind the group of mercenaries. Why would Hana Johan hire somebody to abduct her own son? The shimmering blue tattoo on the back of the kidnappers' necks identified them as part of the Crane Group. They were well-known for their willingness to take any job if the money was right, no matter how foul the work was.

When they all shifted uneasily Mayu nodded. “Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty messed up, orchestrating the kidnapping of your own son to try and pin it on your political rival. Election season is always so dramatic.”

“She never really wanted me once we figured out I wasn’t going to present,” Yon said in a small voice. His black hair flopped forward over his forehead and his dark eyes were shiny with tears.

Mayu reached behind herself without looking away from the mercenaries and patted him on the forearm. “Don’t worry, Yon, when she goes to prison you’ll be free. Sometimes your original family just sucks - you’ll find one that you like much better someday.”

Shikamaru couldn’t believe she was giving _inspirational speeches_ instead of, oh, running away. The man was nodding, though, eyes shining with admiration instead of sadness, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes even as he came within striking distance of what he was fairly certain was a half-troll. A woman - damn, female trolls were generally more difficult to take down.

Either Torii missed the memo that Shikamaru was out of shape, or someone fed him bad information about the job. Since Mayu and Yon both seemed to think the woman who hired them also hired the kidnappers, Shikamaru was going to go with the latter.

“Well,” Mayu said after an awkward pause. “Were you going to take my offer to go inside, or...”

“We’ve already been paid,” a male vampire who Shikamaru guessed was about ten years past his turning said in a clipped tone. “We finish the job, arrest or not.”

Mayu clapped her hands. “Oh, I was hoping you’d say that.”

Shikamaru dropped his shroud just as the gunshots began. Mayu spun and slammed a palm into Yon’s chest. The man’s eyes widened as he sailed through the air and disappeared behind a dumpster. Mayu continued her spin and ducked into a crouch while Shikamaru lashed forward with one hand and grabbed the female troll by the back of her neck. It was best to take them by surprise.

He set his feet and twisted his torso so he could fling his arm behind him, sending the troll crashing into the brick wall of the building. Mayu dashed forward, dodging through the bullets in a hard-to-follow zig-zag pattern. He only had a moment to appreciate how fast she was before he tugged the shadows back around him and flashed to the vampire who had spoken earlier’s side.

Shikamaru grabbed the gun he was holding in his hands and slammed it backward. The vampire wasn’t expecting his sudden appearance, and his nose crunched under the butt of his own gun. Shikamaru wrenched the weapon from his grip and tossed it into the dumpster, then twisted out of the way of a surprisingly steady punch. Impressive reflex time, really. Still, he wasn’t fast enough to dodge Shikamaru’s roundhouse kick to his sternum.

The vampire soared through the air and Shikamaru let the shadows propel him forward. From the corner of his vision, he saw Mayu leap on the back of a siren and slap her hand over her mouth before she could let out a sound. Then he was smacking the heel of his hand into the other vampire’s chest and slamming him into the sidewalk. The concrete cracked with the force of the hit and the blonde vampire’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head.

He turned just in time to see Mayu take the siren down by flipping her body around, wrapping her thighs around her neck, and using their momentum to pull the woman off her feet and slam her head into the concrete. Shikamaru ignored the section of his brain that was focused on how incredibly hot that was and moved to intercept a second vampire that was trying to flank her.

The thought of another vampire getting within ten feet of Mayu made him want to start tearing out throats. As he leaned back to avoid a punch from the huge brute of a man - seriously, he was well-muscled even for a vampire - Mayu took a running leap and kicked the troll in the face, who had rejoined the fray with a gut-churning roar. The troll, whose lips had been pulled back to reveal black teeth, was sent careening into the wall for the second time in as many minutes.

For somebody who looked average in size, Mayu could pack a real punch. Then again, wolf shifters were all powerhouses. Even Shikamaru and his parents thought twice before taking one on seriously, and they only did so after careful planning or with plenty of backup. The only thing keeping them from rising to the top of the supernatural food chain was the fact that conception was a difficult thing for them, their curse, and their rash natures.

Shikamaru grabbed the arm of the vampire and sent him sailing over his shoulder. Mayu was currently fighting off the two remaining mercs, dodging their gunfire with ease as she seemed to just glide between bullets. Every time she landed a hit her movements were so graceful that Shikamaru expected them to not do any damage, but from the grunts and grimaces of pain, he could tell there was a lot of power behind each one.

Then the troll was back and Shikamaru was forced to stop wondering how the type of flexibility she was showcasing was even possible. When his body slammed into the dumpster after the troll got in a lucky hit, denting it and causing Yon to let out a terrified whimper from where he was still lying in the pile of trash Mayu and thrown him in, Shikamaru wondered where the fuck Torii was.

Mayu laughed - _laughed -_  when her body went flying past where he was slumped against the dumpster. She’d been tossed by steroids vampire, who was apparently back in play. She flipped neatly in the air and landed in a crouch.

Shikamaru moved his head out of the way just in time to avoid the troll’s fist and wrinkled his nose at the smell when she screamed in his face in frustration. She grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him in the air and he sighed when she shook him.

“Having fun?” he gritted out to Mayu before he brought his feet up to wrap around the troll’s arm and put his hands around her wrist.

“Yeah! Maybe I should start working with Torii more often. I was going to have to be all boring and sneaky, but once you two showed up, I figured I could just, you know, walk in and grab him.” The sounds of grunts and flesh hitting flesh punctuated her words and he assumed she was locked in hand to hand combat with steroids vampire.

“No wonder he said no to working with you,” he grumbled while the troll waved her arm around in the air, trying to dislodge his grip. He twisted his body, pulled back one heel, and slammed it into her shoulder. The joint gave with a sickening crack and the troll loosened her grip on his shirt with a howl of pain. He dropped to the ground and let the shadows wrap around him, barely dodging a wild swing from the troll’s other hand.

His attention was caught by a choking noise behind him and he spun, eyes going wide when he saw that the large vampire had gotten an arm around Mayu’s neck. He was holding her back against his chest, veins popping as he struggled to keep her in place. Her feet were kicking back at his knees and she was tugging at his arm, gritting her teeth as she strained to pull it away from herself.

Shikamaru only caught a glimpse of the other vampire’s fangs, prepped and ready to bite, before he blurred forward. He put a hand on the vampire’s throat and tightened his grip, letting his momentum carry them both across the sidewalk. Mayu gulped in breaths of air when the vampire let go of her, turning his attention to attempting to fight off Shikamaru.

Shikamaru slammed him into the brick wall and held him there by his grip on his neck. The vampire’s eyes were wide and Shikamaru punched him in the face when he tried to kick out at him with one leg.

“You can’t beat me,” he hissed and realized belatedly that his own fangs had come out. He was enraged to the point where he was fighting the urge to just kill and be done with it, something he hadn’t struggled with since he was newly turned. “I’m at least two hundred years older than you, and I’m _Shikamaru Nara.”_

The vampire stilled his movements at the name drop and his eyes seemed in danger of falling out of his head, they were so wide. Slowly, he lifted both hands in surrender. Shikamaru pressed harder against his throat despite the show of obedience. The other vampire made a strangled sound and something popped beneath Shikamaru's hand.

The image of the vampire opening his mouth in preparation to bite Mayu was replaying in his head. Shikamaru’s fingers tightened, and he knew it wouldn’t take much more to kill him.

“Shikamaru! Get in the fucking car!” Torii’s yell broke him from his rage-induced stupor.

“You stay away from her,” Shikamaru gritted out, even though he wasn’t sure why he even _cared._

He’d just met the woman and she was obviously insane. The vampire nodded frantically and he sighed and forced his fingers to loosen despite the remaining urge to rip the guy apart. Maybe his family was right and he was closer to going feral than he thought.

When he spun around Torii’s car was parked on the curb and Mayu was dragging a shell-shocked Yon to the open back door. The troll was on her knees, holding her shoulder and still bellowing in pain. He swallowed thickly when he realized her skin was bubbling and her eyes had gone red.

“Fuck,” he said and dashed to the car, diving in and tugging the door closed behind him. Yon was in the middle and Mayu was next to the door on the opposite side, body twisted around so she could plaster her face to the back window.

“I’ve never seen a troll go berserk before,” she said in a thoughtful tone as the troll stood and turned her gaze towards them.

Her body had expanded, tearing through the fatigues she’d been wearing earlier. Naked troll was not an attractive look for anyone, it turned out. Her skin, formerly a light grey, had darkened into a deep green. Her blonde hair had thickened and started to spread down her back, becoming more of a pelt than a head of hair.

“What?” Torii choked out.

The troll threw her head back and roared and all of the hairs on Shikamaru’s body stood straight up at the primal sound. “Drive, drive, drive!” he yelled at his cousin.

Yon ducked down and threw his arms over his head and Shikamaru heard him mutter, “I’d rather still be kidnapped.”

Torii hit the gas and the car jolted away from the curb with a squeal of tires. Shikamaru glanced back at the troll, whose body was still expanding, muscles bulging out with unnatural thickness. She was half as tall as the buildings around her now.

It looked painful and sounded that way, too, if the screeching the troll was doing as she went through the states of her berserker transformation was any indication. Just as Torii took the corner her eyes refocused on them and Shikamaru fought back a whimper when she pulled dark green lips back to reveal elongated, black teeth.

“Woah.” Mayu sounded more in awe than worried.

They screeched around a corner and Shikamaru’s shoulders relaxed when she disappeared from view even as he fumbled for his phone. If there was a berserk troll on the loose, he needed to call...well, actually, the Uchiha Pack was the usual contact for stuff like that. He glanced at Mayu, who was patting Yon on the head and grinning.

“That was so _fun -”_ She squeaked when the building next to them exploded in a shower of bricks and glass when the troll burst through it and landed on the sidewalk. It looked like it had been an empty office building, thank god, and Torii turned the wheel to avoid the troll when she leapt into the road.

Mayu’s jaw dropped open and she winced when the troll let out a roar and Yon screamed. Torii hit the gas and yelled, “Hold on!”

Shikamaru threw his body across Yon and over Mayu, pushing her head down. Then their car was soaring over the medium and slamming down on the road on the other side. Shikamaru looked up just in time to see them barely dodge a large truck careening down the lane.

“Jesus,” he muttered when the troll let out another scream and he winced at the sound of cars crashing together behind them.

“Uh. I think we need to clear the streets,” Mayu said in a small voice under him. Then, “Dad’s gonna blow a gasket. Just when I was about to get off probation, too.”

Then she shoved Shikamaru off of her and rolled down the window, hanging onto the handle above the door to keep from being flung to the side when Torii turned sharply to avoid a large green foot kicking out at them.

“Get a manicure!” Mayu yelled, then snickered when the troll screamed in reply.

“Mayu, can you please stop egging on the berserker troll?” Torii said.

“It’s not like she can try to kill us any harder.” She finally finished rolling the window down. She turned and looked at Shikamaru since Yon had somehow shoved himself down on the floor between the front and back seats. “Don’t let me fall out, ‘kay?”

“What -” before he could ask what she was going to do, she crawled out the window until her hips were flush against the sill.

Torii whipped back across the medium and Shikamaru scrambled to grab Mayu’s hips before she could tumble out of the car. They were warm and soft under his hands and his face was uncomfortably close to her (very shapely) ass. What was _wrong_ with him? He was surrounded by beautiful women every day and barely noticed. Yet here they were fleeing for their lives and he couldn’t help but feel a pull towards this absolute crazy person who was responsible for said fleeing and near-death.

Something prickled along his senses and the same wild, earthy scent he'd smelled in the abandoned apartment filled the car. The urge to get closer to Mayu that he'd been experiencing since he met her increased and his hands tightened on her hips. More energy gathered around them, filling his nose and pressing against his skin, and he realized that Mayu was pulling magic to herself.

He leaned to the side so that he could see her face in profile. Her eyes were closed and the wind was whipping strands of her hair from her ponytail and around her face. The sounds of the screaming troll and honking horns faded and his eyes followed the line of her throat when she flung her head back. Her mouth opened and a howl, low and musical and somehow gentle and powerful and _wild_ all at once rang in the air around them.

It echoed, filling the air with a weight, one that said _hide, run, get to safety_ and Shikamaru had to fight the urge to join Yon on the floor. He knew that the whole of Konoha would have heard it. Cars were already pulled over, people dashing from them and heading for the nearest building. Ignoring the warning of a wolf cry was stupid, and for non-magical people, near impossible.

Shikamaru, Torii, and, unfortunately, the troll, had enough inherent power to resist its push. Yon whimpered and curled up further into himself.

“There,” Mayu said, triumphant, and wiggled back into the car. Shikamaru had to force his hands from her, though his eyes refused to move away from her squirming hips until she was sitting next to him. “Now we can stop worrying about casualties. Torii, do you think you can try to lead her west?”

“Yeah, sure, why not? The mercenary guild is going to have my head for this,” he grumbled. Then he yelled, “Fuck!” as a large piece of what looked like a section of guardrail hit the asphalt directly in front of the car.

He swerved sharply to the right and Mayu was flung across the seat. She landed half-sprawled in Shikamaru’s lap. Torii swerved again to avoid a parked Escalade and Shikamaru clamped a hand down on her hip to keep her from flying back the other way. The troll let out a roar of anger that shook the frame of the car.

Yon made another small sound from his spot curled up on the floor. A jaunty tune, incongruent with the current level of terror they were experiencing, filled the car and Mayu scrambled to turn her body around and unzip her fanny pack at the same time. Their car drifted around a corner, the sound of screeching wheels drowning out the ringtone for a moment.

Shikamaru glanced out of the back window just in time to see the troll leap over a black van and slam onto the road about thirty feet behind him. God, he really hoped they wouldn’t be expected to pay for all that damage. Then he was distracted by the way Mayu was squirming up into a seated position in his lap so that she could grab the handle of the door and answer the phone at the same time.

“Hi, daddy!” Torii made a choked, terrified noise from the front seat and Shikamaru thought it probably had more to do with the person on the other side of the call than the mailbox that the troll had just chucked at them.

“Mayu. What’s happening? Why did you sound the call?” There was no such thing as a private call when supernaturals were in the room with you, so Shikamaru and Torii heard him loud and clear.

“Oh, well. There might, possibly, be a berserk troll, um. Chasing me.”

The man on the other side of the phone went silent for a good five seconds. Behind him, the troll roared again and there was the sound of screeching medal and then Torii saying, “Jesus christ!” just before a lamp post whipped by them like some sort of oversized javelin and slammed into the side of someone’s parked van.

“Is that Torii Nara?”

“Uh.”

Fugaku took a deep breath. “Your brothers are on their way to you. I expect you to take the troll _alive,_ Mayu. The last thing we need is another -”

Something slammed into the car and the phone flew from Mayu’s hand and clattered onto the floor. Yon screamed, loud and shrill, as the front passenger side door was ripped from its hinges. Shikamaru tightened his hold on Mayu, who sighed and reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.

She wasn’t wearing a bra and Shikamaru’s thoughts stuttered to a halt for a moment as his gaze was drawn downwards. Not even the crazy thousand pound creature that was currently pounding along the pavement next to them, slamming the door it had commandeered into the roof above his head, could distract him.

“Mayu! Mayu, what’s going on?” Fugaku’s tinny voice called from under the seat.

“Don’t worry, dad! I’m about to shift. I can feel Itachi and Sasuke, they’re close.” She started wiggling around in an incredibly distracting way on Shikamaru’s lap and he gulped when she pushed her pants down over her hips.

“Good god, Mayu, why do you end up naked every time we do a job together?” Torii snapped after screeching down a side alley and gaining some distance from the screaming troll.

“What?” Fugaku’s tone was cool, even through the tinny speakers of the phone that was still lost somewhere under the seats, and Torii made a small whimpering sound.

“I just bought this outfit! It’s spelled against bullets and fire and was really expensive. I’m not going to rip them apart with a change. You’re gay, anyway, why do you care?”

“Well, considering my cousin looks like he’s about to combust, and I kind of like him alive -” he had to stop talking when they slid into a turn back onto the main road and the troll leapt off the buildings it had been running across to keep pace with them to land about twenty feet behind him.

Shikamaru stared down at the very naked girl in his arms and gulped when she turned a wink on him. Damn the shifters and their complete lack of modesty. She wiggled in his lap again for no apparent reason and he had to work really, really hard not to groan.

“I’ll draw him away, Torii. You get Yon to safety then call my dad.”

“You can’t take on a troll alone,” Shikamaru’s brain turned on enough to say.

Mayu turned a slightly manic smile on him, then threw her head back and howled again. This time it was a beacon instead of a warning and from somewhere to the right, the yowl of two large cats answered.

“Don’t worry, Shikamaru, my brothers are here. That troll is no match for all three of us.”

“But -” he cut off when she leaned up and pressed her lips to his cheek. His mind went pleasantly blank at the feel of her soft lips and the smell of her perfume and he tightened his arms around her involuntarily. Her skin was silky and warm and he really shouldn’t be having the sorts of thoughts that were running through his head when his cousin was two feet away and there was a rampaging troll trying to kill them.

“It was nice to meet you,” she said and then clambered off of him and into the front seat. And, wow, that view was not something that would leave his memory anytime soon.

She turned so that she was leaning out of the space that the door used to occupy. “I’ll drop by your aunt’s club for my stuff tomorrow, Torii. Thanks for the help!”

Shikamaru made a choked-off sound of protest when she leapt out of the car. Her body rippled in mid-air, magic once again lighting up his senses, and when he craned his body around there was a large wolf with blue-black fur and a white-tipped tail sprinting back towards the troll.

Two huge black cats launched themselves off one of the surrounding buildings and landed on the still-screaming troll. Mayu was mid-leap, lips pulled back to reveal some wicked-looking fangs, when he lost sight of her as they took a corner.

“That,” Torii said in a wry tone, “is the craziest Uchiha you’ll ever meet.”

Shikamaru made a vague, distressed-sounding noise of agreement. His hands were still tingling from the feel of her skin against them, and he flexed them a few times. He opened his mouth to ask where they were going, but instead what came out was a dreamy, “She’s pretty impressive, isn’t she?”

Torii and Fugaku made identical sounds of horror and Shikamaru decided that he was going to make sure he never, ever ended up in the same space as Mayu Uchiha again. Talk about troublesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working through that addiction to writing and posting ridiculous things, as you can see.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayu schemes and hangs out with her family. We meet her alter ego, whose name is actually really cool, okay?

Mayu collapsed back on her bed, unheeding of the way it sent a deep throb through the large bruise on her back. Berserk trolls were a bitch to take down, even with the help of her brothers.

“This sucks, Tulip,” she muttered and her wolf rumbled in the back of her mind. It was petulant, a clear _why do you think I care about this, human?_

A moment later an image of Shikamaru popped up in her mind. He was standing in the low lighting of the room they’d met in, shadows shifting across the planes of his handsome face. The way he held himself, relaxed with a sort of deadly readiness, the sharpness of his eyes...

Okay, so she supposed that finding her mate might trump the two-month suspension she’d just earned herself with her “immature, reckless, and completely unsanctioned decision to go after Yon yourself. And with the help of a vampire, no less.”

Yeah, her father had been Unhappy with her when he’d arrived on-scene to find her bruised, bloody, and wrapped in a blanket to hide her nudity. She’d also been grinning and attempting to coax her dour brothers into a high-five to no avail. Her family were a bunch of wet blankets, honestly.

“Yeah, I guess we do need to talk about that,” Mayu muttered to her wolf.

Sasuke always teased her for having conversations with her alter ego since it was technically the equivalent of talking to herself. But her wolf had been a separate entity with its own thoughts, feelings, and agendas since she started learning how to organize her mindscape as a child.

She called herself evolved. Sasuke called her crazy. Itachi was almost always forced to intervene when the discussion turned into a furniture-destroying, hair-pulling slap-fight.

Tulip nudged her and Mayu sighed but obediently closed her eyes and dropped into her mindscape. She’d joined a coven at the tender age of four at Fugaku’s insistence after she’d started their guest house on fire with a burst of accidental magic. Unsurprisingly, it had been Sasuke’s fault.

The first thing Kakashi Hatake, the head of the coven, had taught her was how to find and organize her mindscape. That’s how she had found Tulip. She’d been a puppy then, bounding through the chaos that was the caves of Mayu’s mind. They’d come to an understanding since then. Mayu maintained control of her body, but she treated Tulip like a partner instead of trying to cage her away.

She landed lightly on bare feet in the meadow that her wolf liked to prowl about in. They’d built it together when Mayu was ten. It was surrounded by dark pine trees and a full moon hung heavy in the sky.

Tulip was stalking around the far edge, blue-black fur rippling and tail lowered. Mayu’s heart sank. Tulip was energetic and just as reckless as Mayu, but she was never agitated. She jogged over to her and put a hand on her scruff.

“None of that. Don’t be dull, we’ll work it out.”

Tulip was as huge here as she was in real life.  Her shoulders came to Mayu’s collarbones and her paws were the size of dinner platters. Her tail had a little white tip that Mayu thought made her (them) look adorable while in their furry form.

Tulip sighed and shoved her face against Mayu’s shoulder. She stumbled back and laughed, relieved at the show of normalcy. “Hey now, no picking on the tiny human.”

They wandered over to the middle of the meadow and sat down, Mayu cross-legged and Tulip spread out next to her. “Alright. So. Strategy meeting.” Mayu rubbed her hands together.

Tulip sent her an image of Mayu showing up on Shikamaru’s doorstep in lingerie. In the fantasy, he was wearing the same expression he’d had when she’d stripped down in his lap. She shivered at the memory of his callused hands on her skin and the way his eyes and wandered over her form appreciatively. And the way he _smelled..._

Mayu flopped back into the cool grass and groaned. “This is such a bummer. I was really hoping we wouldn’t have to deal with this whole mate thing for years.”

Tulip huffed and the next picture she sent was Shikamaru pulling her through the door and crowding her up against a wall. Mayu sat up and glared, batting the image away. “Yeah, I get it, you want to go out and bone him. But we can’t just jump him, remember?”

She pushed her own image at Tulip, this one a memory of the sheer terror that had crossed his features after their Meeting. “He’s scared, Tulip. We can’t - we can’t be like the rest of them. We can’t force him or manipulate him. We’ve talked about this.”

Tulip whined and put her head on her paws. Mayu reached out and buried her fingers in her scruff. “Yeah, I know. It’s going to hurt, but we’ll need to take this slow.”

The curse that all wolves lived under had twisted the rare situation of finding a True Mate from something beautiful to something terrifying for the mate and potentially deadly for the wolf. The pull when you did find a potential mate was strong for any shifter. If the other person wasn’t a shifter, however, the urge to shack up and make little babies was much less pronounced on their end. Usually, the were took their time courting the person. It was generally enough - just because it wasn’t a strong pull didn’t mean it wasn’t there at all.

If it didn’t work out for some reason it was painful, but the shifter could walk away before completing the bond and eventually find a different match. The curse on the wolves made that option impossible for them.

It also increased the pull exponentially and eventually they started to lose control if they were rejected. Which happened a lot, since having a huge supernatural brute throw themselves at you was generally disconcerting. Turning away from Shikamaru in that run down apartment building had taken an enormous amount of willpower.

After the almost-inevitable rejection (nobody liked crazy overbearing stalkers demanding that they mate for life following them around) the mind started to deteriorate and in most cases, the werewolf eventually died. Unpleasant, for certain.

Mayu took a shaky breath. She’d sworn to herself that she would never become one of the werewolves that tried to force themselves on another person. She and Tulip had discussed it and agreed soon after Mikoto and Fugaku had sat her down and told her about the curse. They’d follow the old ways, the same as the Uchiha Pack. That should keep them from coming on too strong.

“So. I guess we need to get to courting, huh?”

Tulip grumbled but didn’t protest. An image of Mayu on one knee outside a tower, holding up flowers and singing Celine Dion to a swooning Shikamaru leaning out a window, flitted across her mind.

Mayu snickered. “Yeah, I don’t think so. We’ll need to be more subtle than that. I don’t think we can just have dad go to his parents and ask if we can court him, either. We’ll need to ease into it. You know, Sakura is always talking about how she and Junto work because they were friends before they were lovers. Maybe we can try that, first?”

Tulip’s muzzle wrinkled but after a moment she gave in with a sullen shrug and sigh. Mayu rubbed her hands together. “Right. _Operation Befriend Sexy Shikamaru_ a go!”

She winced at the newest image from Tulip, this one a memory of how she and Kiba had become friends. It had involved the destruction of a good portion of the Konoha Druidic Forests and him deciding to sneak her out instead of turning her over his mother, the head Druid.

Another followed, this time Mayu had found an advanced spell book in the coven library. She’d decided to try a transmutation spell and accidentally turned herself and the two other girls in the library into mice. For a week. That was how she’d met Hinata and Sakura.

“Well, we might have to try something different. Maybe, um. Huh. You know what, we might need some help.”

She opened her eyes. It was bright in her room now, which meant she’d been in her mindscape for a few hours. She sat up and stretched, then winced at the small twinge still making itself known in her lower back.

“Weird. Must have been more injured than I thought if it still hurts.”

She shrugged it off and got out of bed, taking a moment to pull on some clothes before going in search of her mother. A ball of energy and flowing black hair skidded to a stop in front of her before she could make it further than a few steps out of her room.

“Mayu! Dad says that you’re on suspension for destroying downtown Konoha again. Is it true you and Sasuke and Itachi killed a troll?”

Mayu grinned down at Chiasa, who was staring up at her with wide eyes. “We didn’t kill it, we just knocked it out. And dad completely overreacted.”

She slumped at the reminder of her suspension. It’s not like the Uchiha were paying for the damage. The Crane Group was responsible since they’d hired a troll that had then lost control. So why was she being punished?

Chiasa looked less than convinced. “You always say that. Well, I’m going to Jay’s birthday party. Cousin Shisui is waiting downstairs to drive me.”

Mayu patted her on the head and then Chiasa turned and dashed to the top of the stairs and launched herself over the railing instead of walking down them. Mayu grinned when she heard Itachi scolding her, but wasn’t worried.

Chiasa was a cat, a little one-floor drop wasn’t going to hurt anything but her Uchiha dignity. It was with that cheerful thought in mind that Mayu thumped down the stairs, following the scent of her mother’s lotion.

She found her in the family room, sitting on the couch next to Itachi. They were both reading, Mikoto a paperback and Itachi a case file. Sasuke was slumped in a chair across from them looking down at his phone, no doubt reading something just as lame as him.

“Mom,” Mayu said and skipped across the room.

“Nice of you to join us,” Sasuke muttered.

Mayu ignored him and Mikoto looked up and smiled at her. “Hello, darling. What have you been up to?”

“Meditating.” Mayu wriggled into the spot between her and Itachi, which meant she ended up half in her brother’s lap so she could put her head on Mikoto’s shoulder. Itachi simply lifted the case file out of the way of her flailing limbs until she was settled, then lowered it to rest on her hip.

Mikoto set her book to the side and brought up a hand to run through Mayu’s hair, working out the knots that had formed when she fell asleep on it straight after a shower. They were used to her getting up in their space on a near-daily basis. Cat shifters weren’t exactly touchy-feely, but as a wolf, Mayu craved contact from her pack.

“Oh? And how’s Tulip today?” Mikoto was the only member of her family who used the undignified name Mayu had given her wolf. In her defense, she’d been four and Mikoto had just revealed to her that tulips were her favorite flower.

“She’s okay. Actually, we need your help.” She widened her eyes and turned her head so that she was looking up into Mikoto’s warm gaze.

“Darling, you know I won’t be able to get your father to back down on the suspension. It was all I could do to talk him out of making it six months.” Mayu stuck out her lip and Mikoto pushed a lock of hair out of her face. “You really scared him when you sounded the Call, and then he had to listen to you being chased down by a berserk troll.”

Her mother’s light censure was, as always, much more effective than Fugaku’s lectures or punishments. Mayu looked away, genuinely remorseful for upsetting her parents. “Yeah, well. I can handle myself,” she muttered, then yelped when Itachi flicked her leg and sent her a warning look.

“I am sorry for worrying you and dad, though. But! That’s not what we need help with.” Mayu squirmed into a sitting position. “Tulip and I want to be friends with somebody, but we don’t know how to make him like us.”

Itachi turned his head towards her and raised an eyebrow and across the room, Sasuke lowered his phone to send her his best deadpan stare. Mikoto looked genuinely surprised.

“Oh. Well, Mayu, love, you’ve never had trouble making friends before. Look at Kiba and Sakura and Hinata. You four are thick as thieves.”

Mayu nodded solemnly. “Yeah, but we became friends in, you know, less than ideal situations. I don’t want to turn this person into a mouse or - or burn down their family lands -”

“That was _you_ that burned the druid lands?” Sasuke blurted and Mayu froze.

“What? No! Don’t be crazy, that was just an example.” She laughed nervously and ignored the three identical looks of disbelief being sent her way. “Anyway, Tulip and I want to know how to go about making friends, you know, the normal way.”

“I told you, mom. Whatever happened to her before you found her caused permanent damage. A twenty-five-year-old should know how to make friends.”

“Sasuke,” Mikoto scolded, but her lips twitched with amusement. “Okay. Well, I’d suggest figuring out what you and this person have in common. What do they like that you wouldn’t mind spending time with them doing? You’re a wonderful person, they won’t be able to resist loving you once they get to know you, just like your other friends.”

Mayu beamed at her and pretended she didn’t hear Sasuke’s scoff. Somebody was grumpy today. “Thanks, mom. That actually helps.” Her mind was already racing through what she knew about Shikamaru.

“Who is this person, anyway?” Itachi asked. He looked suspicious, which was bad.

If her family got involved they’d end up putting pressure on Shikamaru, even if they didn’t mean to. They wouldn’t be able to help it if they knew she was in pain. There was already a hollow sort of throbbing sensation coming from the place where Tulip resided inside her soul.

“Torii Nara,” she blurted.

“A vampire?” Mikoto asked.

“A Nara?” Sasuke sounded scandalized.

Itachi tilted his head to the side. “I thought you two were already friends.”

Mayu slumped. “He thinks I’m annoying. But I think he’s really cool, you know? So I’m going to be his friend.”

Itachi straightened into Protective Big Brother Pose Number Four. “He said you were annoying?”

Mikoto pressed her lips together. “I don’t know, Mayu. You know how vampires are, and if he’s saying unkind things about you...”

Mayu lifted her hands and waved them in the air. Maybe Torii wasn’t her best idea for a cover. Though, it could soften them up to the possibility of a vampire in her life. Just, the real one wouldn’t be gay. And would hopefully be having sex with her on the regular. “No! He didn’t say that. I can just tell. You know I’m good at reading people.”

Mikoto sighed but dropped it and after a moment Itachi and Sasuke followed her example. She picked up her book and Itachi went back to his file. Sasuke was tapping away on his phone.

Mayu shifted around until her cheek was pressed against Itachi’s shoulder. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head, scenting her, before going back to his files. Mayu played with a piece of his hair that had fallen forward and watched him flip through reports and pictures of a crime scene with only half her attention.

Well, she knew Shikamaru’s parents owned a club and that they lived below it. She bet Shikamaru helped them run it so he was probably there a lot. As a direct Nara descendent, he’d be clever and shrewd and powerful, too. She’d heard what he’d said about his age to the mercenary vampire.

She’d just need to go and see him there, then maybe track Torii down and try and get some intel. She’d need to spend time with him, anyway, since he was her cover. The two-month suspension could actually work in her favor.

Mayu stood abruptly as an outline of a plan came together in her mind. Excitement over seeing Shikamaru again had her bouncing up on the balls of her feet. He was just so... _perfect._

“The florist did it,” she said to Itachi, then leaped over the table that was between the couch and Sasuke’s chair.

“What florist?” Itachi asked, flipping through the file. “There’s no florist in the report.”

“But there’s one across the street. Trust me.”

Before Itachi could reply she reached out and snagged the phone from Sasuke’s hands, then turned and raced for the stairs. “Mayu, what the hell!” he yelled and she shrieked when she heard his footsteps thundering after her.

She sped up and laughed when he swore. She skidded around the corner and into the hallway and sprinted for her room. She could hear Sasuke just behind her as she jumped the last few feet, then turned around and slammed her door in his face.

A pulse of power from her hand put up a ward just as he crashed into it. She laughed at the sound of him banging on the door. “Mayu, let me in! Dammit, give me back my phone. Mom! Mayu took my phone!”

“Just a second, you big baby, I need to make a call. I lost my phone last night in the chase.”

“Have you ever heard of _asking -”_

She snapped her fingers and the sound ward fell into place, cutting him off. Now her call would stay private and she wouldn’t have to listen to him bitch. She hummed as she typed in Sakura’s number from memory.

It rang three times before Sakura’s voice came over the line. “Sasuke?”

“Nah, it’s Mayu, I lost my phone.”

“Mayu! Oh my god, I saw you on the news. I can’t believe you took on a berserk troll -”

“Listen, I don’t have time to talk, but I need you, Kiba, and Hinata to go with me to Crimson tonight. Dress up, and pick me up at the sixty-two mile marker at ten pm. Uh, don’t tell my pack.”

“Mayu -” she hung up before Sakura could complain, then opened her door.

Sasuke was standing there, red-faced, and he fumbled when she tossed his phone back to him. “Thanks, Sasuke,” she said sweetly, then edged around him and sauntered down the hall. “You’re such a good big brother, always sharing your stuff with me.”

“You called Sakura. Why? I know dad told you to stay in the compound for a few days until things calm down.” He was right on her heels, frantically searching his phone for anything nefarious she might have done, and she rolled her eyes.

“Duh, I had to cancel plans with her.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“Your face is terrible.”

“You’re so annoying -”

“Pfft, like you have room to talk - _oomph.”_ Sasuke tackled her just as she got to the top of the stairs and she shrieked as they tumbled down them in a tangle of limbs. She grabbed his hair and tugged, then lost her grip when her back hit the edge of a stair and his elbow ground into her sternum.

“You _jerk,_ I’m still healing!” Mayu yelled when they landed at the bottom, then pounced on him when he tried to jump to his feet, probably to run away.

“Bullshit, we both know you were done healing before we even got home. Ouch! Dammit, Mayu, stop that -”

“You’re such an asshole, I just made one measly phone call! Mom says I’m your little sister and you’re supposed to take care of me!” She screamed when he grabbed the skin on her stomach and twisted his fingers in a pinch that she was fairly certain was close to drawing blood.

With some effort she got her feet between them and pushed up against his stomach, sending him sailing across the room. He hit the drywall next to the stairs and staggered back to his feet. Mayu snickered when a picture fell from the wall and hit him on the head.

“Dammit, Mayu! How can I take care of you when you do stupid shit like egg on a troll -”

“Uh, a criminal, kidnapping troll -”

“And then let it chase you through the city -”

“I didn’t let it do anything -”

“With only a _vampire_ for backup! It’s like you want to die!” Mayu cut off, shocked at how angry he was. They were always picking at each other, it was true, but they were never actually angry.

She thought back through what he’d said and the reason for his extreme pissiness became clear. “Oh,” she whispered. He was jealous and upset that she hadn’t called him for backup.

She heard Mikoto and Itachi in the doorway but ignored them. “Sasuke, I’m sorry I didn’t take you with me, okay? I didn’t expect to find Yon so quickly. It was just a lucky break. And I didn’t call Torii instead of you, he just showed up right after I did.”

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the side, lips twisted into his version of a pout. She stepped forward until she was only a foot away, then reached out and tugged on his ridiculous side-bangs. “Come on, ‘Suke. Don’t be mad. I promise I didn’t mean to leave you out.”

He glanced over at her and she widened her eyes. He sighed and dropped his arms to the side. “Yeah, well. Who said I wanted to go with you?”

She grinned, then tackled him into a hug. “Aw, my grumpy big brother doesn’t want to admit he loves me.”

He pushed at her, but it was only half-hearted and she nuzzled into his neck. “There, now everybody will know just how close you are to your precious little sister when they smell you.”

“God, you’re the worst,” he mumbled, but his lips were turning up at the corners and his expression had softened.

She tilted her head to the side expectantly and after a dramatic sigh he lifted a hand and smoothed it over her neck and cheek to scent mark her. “There, all made up,” she said, relaxing as the scent of family and pack surrounded her.

“Great. Now, if I were you, I’d get to work cleaning up the mess you made before your father gets home.” Mayu and Sasuke shared identical alarmed looks at Mikoto’s words, then rushed to do as she suggested.

000

Mayu adjusted her dress and gave herself one last look in the mirror. She was wearing a silk grey dress that draped over her curves in interesting ways and ended more than a few inches above her knee. Her hair was carefully curled and she’d spent an embarrassing amount of time on her makeup.

Just because she was going to play it cool with Shikamaru didn’t mean she couldn’t lay the groundwork for later. Plus, they were going to a club. It was only proper that she wear clubbing clothes. Everybody dressed up to go to Crimson, after all.

She checked the time, then strained her ears. The house was silent. Fugaku had come home at around seven and they’d had an awkward dinner that had only become more awkward when Sasuke announced her plan to become best friends with Torii Nara.

Fugaku had set his fork down and frowned. “The boy is a bad influence on you.”

Mayu had valiantly resisted rolling her eyes. Only Fugaku would call a two-hundred-year-old vampire a ‘boy.’ Though she supposed to her father’s eight hundred and something years, he probably did seem young.

“He’s not a bad influence, daddy. He actually always does his best to look out for me.”

“He’s a mercenary.”

“A really good one! And he doesn’t kill people that don’t deserve it.”

“Mayu, you will keep your distance from the Nara, and that is final.”

Sasuke had smirked at her and she had flicked a spoonful of potatoes into his stupid hair. She’d been sent to her room shortly after. She might be twenty-five, but her father was the Alpha and her family was her pack. Which meant she went to her room.

Mayu hummed and picked up her black stiletto boots in one hand. She put her sparkly black purse over her shoulder, then moved to her window. Usually, she wouldn’t go so far as to sneak out - she generally took her punishments without (much) complaint. She preferred not to have Fugaku angry with her, after all.

But there was no way she was going to stay in when she had a chance to see her mate. Once the window was open she muttered a quick spell that would cover her scent and snuck out onto the roof. She crouched down and crept to the edge.

It didn’t look like any of the compound guards were close. As long as their patrol schedule hadn’t changed in the past few days, she had a five-minute window. Mayu jumped from the roof and landed lightly on the lawn.

She frowned. She’d been aiming for a shadow being cast by a tree on the far end of the yard but had come up a few feet short. She usually could make that jump without much fuss.

She didn’t have time to think about it, though, so darted forward and into the shadow. Another moment of listening and scenting the air and then she was running soundlessly through the forest on bare feet, purse bouncing lightly against her hip and boots still in one hand.

She could just make out the old two-lane highway that marked the edge of the Uchiha lands when she heard the warning yowl. They knew she was gone. She pushed speed into her legs and heard someone call out in their human form.

Adrenaline hit her system as the trees blurred past her. She soared over a downed tree, weightless for a long moment, and a peal of laughter escaped her just before her bare feet sunk into the soft ground. Footsteps pounded behind her but she was already bursting from the trees and could see Kiba’s new Audi parked down the road.

The back door opened and Sakura’s head popped out, pink hair shining in the moonlight. “Mayu! Are you being chased by your own - _mmph!”_

Mayu dove into the backseat, still laughing breathlessly, and slammed the door shut. “Go, drive!” she yelled, not missing how similar this situation was to the one she was in the night before.

Hinata was in the front passenger seat, but she was twisted around, staring out the back window with wide, pupil-less eyes. Kiba swore when two Uchiha, still in human form, emerged from the trees. They stumbled to a stop and turned their dark eyes to Kiba’s car.

He took off with a squeal of tires and one of the Uchiha - Mayu now recognized him as Dai - put a hand to his forehead. The other threw his hands up in the air and Mayu giggled. She was going to be in so much trouble later.

When she turned forward all three of them were staring at her in a mixture of shock (Kiba, through the rearview mirror), anger (Sakura), and concern (Hinata). “Hey, guys. Kiba, do you have any wet wipes in here for my feet?”

She held up her shoes to show she was barefoot and he sputtered. “Mayu, I swear to god, if you get mud in my new car -”

“Ugh, Kiba, like Akamaru won’t get it covered in fur soon -”

“That’s not the point! This is an _S4 -”_

“Lookin’ hot, Hinata, Sakura,” Mayu said with an appreciative whistle, deciding that ignoring Kiba was the only way to avoid the ‘my car is amazing and you don’t deserve to be in it’ conversation.

Sakura was wearing a shimmering red number and matching lipstick that Mayu was sure would have multiple people imagining dirty lip-related things whenever they looked at her. She craned around the seat and saw that Hinata was wearing a velvet long-sleeved dress that that Mayu knew ended just above the knees and clung to her curves. She’d helped her pick it out, after all.

Hinata and Sakura ignored her distraction tactics, well used to them by now. “Mayu,” Sakura said slowly, “Why are you running from your own pack?”

“Oh, well, daddy grounded me, but I wanted to go out.”

Sakura’s jaw dropped and Hinata looked faint. Kiba was frowning and kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “Fugaku is going to kill you,” he said in a  flat tone. “Mayu, why would you do that?”

“Well, you only live once,” she said with a lightness she wasn’t feeling. She didn’t want to give away that this was literally a life or death situation. She couldn’t.

Sakura and Kiba would drag Shikamaru down the aisle if they had to, and Hinata would stare at him with wide eyes until he gave in. Her friends were fans of free will, but they weren’t fans of Mayu going insane and/or dying horribly. No, if Shikamaru decided to accept Mayu, he’d do it of his own free will. Mayu was not like the rest of the wolves in this town.

Her fist clenched and Sakura glanced down at it and then back at her. “Okay,” she drew the word out. “So what’s so special about Crimson? You’ve never wanted to go before.”

“Well, dad said that I couldn’t until I was thirty,” Mayu rolled her eyes. “He’s so controlling.”

Sakura laughed and leaned back, relaxing at the familiar conversation. “He’s an alpha, of course, he’s controlling. I know for a fact that he didn’t let Sasuke go until he turned thirty last year, either. Probably not Shisui or Itachi, either, though they’re both so old, who knows if there was a Crimson back then?”

Hinata blushed on cue at the mention of Mayu’s cousin and she grinned. “I wonder if he’ll be on the Mayu retrieval team,” she said thoughtfully.

Sakura sat up as she caught on. “Who, Itachi?” she asked innocently.

Hinata leaned around the seat and handed Mayu a handful of wet wipes, cheeks red in the streetlights that were becoming more numerous the closer they got to Konoha proper. “Here, Mayu.”

“Thanks,” she said and turned her attention to wiping the dirt spattered across her feet and legs off before answering. “Well, both of them, really.”

“You’ll be lucky if Fugaku doesn’t show up himself with chains. God, he’ll probably call my mom. I’m so fucked. Why am I your friend?” Kiba moaned.

“Cause you love me.” Mayu flashed a fang-filled smile at him.

Tulip sent an image of her driving out to help him escape a house after the father of one of his flings came home early. Mayu laughed. “Tulip wants to remind you about the time we helped you escape the murderous brownie.”

Kiba grimaced. “Well, Tulip’s cool. Me and Tulip are bros.”

Tulip gave her a smug nudge and Mayu rolled her eyes. “So you just love me for my wolf. I see how it is, you kinky druid bastard.”

Hinata squeaked and Sakura laughed. Kiba just waggled his eyebrows at her in the rearview mirror and downshifted when they hit a lower speed limit. Mayu tugged a boot on and zipped it up after shoving the dirty wipes into the garbage bag attached to the back of Hinata’s seat.

“Okay, spill. How in the world did you end up setting a berserk troll loose on the city? And come over here and let me fix your hair,” Sakura demanded.

Mayu zipped up the second boot before moving to obey and launched into a retelling of the night before. When she got to the part where Fugaku called while Torii was screaming in the background, all three were laughing.

“That poor vampire. Last time you almost drowned him, this time he almost got smashed by a troll,” Sakura said.

“Not to mention Fugaku heard you stripping down in front of him,” Kiba added. “You’d better hope that cousin you mentioned doesn’t ever have to come face to face with him.”

Mayu rolled her eyes. “You’d think the whole pack hasn’t seen me naked every full moon. He’s so...old-fashioned!”

“He’s almost nine hundred years old, Mayu. Duh, he’s old-fashioned,” Sakura said. “Mikoto said that you’ve done more to modernize his thinking than anybody else has in a century.”

Mayu snorted. “Nope, he just learned to pick his battles.”

Hinata giggled at the reminder of the awkward cold war the pack had suffered through when Mayu turned eighteen. It was the biggest fight she and Fugaku ever had. Mayu was generally content to follow his lead and he was generally content to accept about sixty percent of her craziness with grace.

Then she’d started having sex. Fugaku had walked in on her giving Dai a blow job. The next day Dai broke it off with her, unable to take the disapproval of his Alpha. He’d been her first boyfriend. She’d been devastated.

“I still can’t believe some of the men and women you brought home with you before Fugaku caved,” Kiba muttered.

“Hey, they all had good hearts!” Mayu protested with a laugh. She had gone a little dark side with the people she’d dated after that. Her revenge had been fun and educational.

Mikoto had eventually stepped in once Itachi had developed a twitch every time Mayu said she was going out. Fugaku had finally agreed, through his wife, to never interfere in her love life again if she would please just stop picking up every ‘bad boy or girl’ she came across just to irritate him. After denying it was just to irritate him (she'd enjoyed herself, after all), she'd agreed, and stopped rubbing her flings in his face.

She'd never dated anyone seriously again after Dai, though, mostly because she hadn't found somebody she'd been interested in. She thought her father might feel kind of bad about that, actually, especially when she'd refused to go out with Dai again after he'd apologized for his original (over)reaction and encouraged him to try and repair the relationship.

“You dated _Leon Heartchild._ Fugaku didn’t come out of his office when he was home for weeks.” Leon was a lone lion shifter who wore a lot of leather and handled assassinations for the council. He was also very talented in bed and a closet gentleman. And not afraid of Mayu’s father.

“Don’t forget Billy the vampire from Texas,” Sakura added.

“Or Jenny the succubus bartender.”

“That ill-fated week with Kiba was what broke him, though,” Mayu said thoughtfully and Kiba groaned at the reminder.

“Yeah, that was...not our best idea.”

“Hey, you thought I was a tiger in the sack.”

Hinata squeaked and Kiba sent her an unimpressed look but didn’t argue. She gave him a toothy smile that had him blushing and clearing his throat. Yeah, she was awesome. Too bad they spent more time sniping at each other than having actual dates during that week of amazing sex and awkward everything else.

Mayu looked out the window and her stomach dropped when the large neon sign for Crimson came into sight. Tulip sent a wave of reassurance towards her.

Right. Mayu could do this. One mate, coming right up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Fugaku: I wrote him as a traditional alpha who happens to be over 800 years old, so he's a little, you know. Dumb but learning. Character growth or whatever. I imagined that Mayu as his first daughter would be like being thrown into the deep end of women's rights, since she does what she wants.
> 
> How do you think poor Shika will react to dressedup!Mayu? And what do you think of Tulip the multiple-personality-as-wolf?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru just wants to tend bar and drown in his own angsty-ness, is that too much to ask? 
> 
> (When Mayu is involved, yes, yes it is)

Shikamaru ignored Ino’s glare and set the crate full of beer on the counter behind the bar. He was running behind, thanks to spending the remainder of the night before being glared at by Uchiha and Mercenary Guild representatives.

Though, listening to Torii get chewed out by Fugaku Uchiha for “dragging my daughter into yet another dangerous situation with your distressing lack of foresight,” had been hilarious. Torii had kept his lips clamped shut throughout it, though he’d ranted for a full half hour about Mayu’s idiocy and how in denial her family was about the extent of her craziness once it was just the two of them.

Then he’d shoved a paper bag full of Mayu’s things into Shikamaru’s arms and screeched away from the curb in front of Crimson in his now-trashed car. A bag that was now sitting innocently behind the bar, waiting for its owner to come retrieve it.

Shikamaru’s eye twitched every time he saw it. He’d tried to get out of working up front that night to avoid her in case she kept her promise and stopped by, but his mother had just pointed at the bar and then sashayed away to the back office. Shikamaru figured his father was probably back there coming up with a plan for world domination that he was too lazy to actually follow through with.

The club had just started to pick up for the evening, the tables in the front and on the balcony lining one wall filling with a mixture of humans and various supernaturals. The dance floor in the back had a few bodies undulating on it, the siren they’d recently hired as a DJ just getting warmed up.

Shikamaru finished restocking, then turned to help Ino tend the bar. It was boring and annoying work, but his parents had put their foot down four years ago and demanded he do something with his time other than lay around being morose. So here he was, making drinks in the club his mother had started in an attempt to bring the supernatural community together.

Ino sent him a sidelong look when he thunked a fruity drink in front of a human vampire-flunky who was attempting to flirt with him. He just put on his best _I’m not interested_ expression and swiped her money from the bar. She stuck out her lip and slunk away.

“You know, you could flirt a little, it’ll increase tips.”

Shikamaru shrugged. He didn’t actually need tips since he had plenty of money tucked away from his time as one of the top mercenaries in the business. Since Ino had been one of his partners, he knew that she also didn’t need the tips. Then again, Ino always excelled at everything she did.

Even being his friend. Both she and Chouji had declared that they’d wait until he was ready again before going back into the mercenary business. So far they’d been waiting thirty years with minimal complaint.

Ino winked at a shifter after setting a beer in front of him. He slid her a ten dollar tip and Ino’s smile turned smug when she held it up show Shikamaru.

“The poor guys think they actually have a chance when you do that.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault they’re delusional...” she trailed off after turning around.

Shikamaru frowned and followed her gaze to the door. “Holy hot guy, Batman,” she said.

A man that Shikamaru had never seen before had just walked through the door. He was wearing leather pants and a see-through shirt that put his tattoos on display. A druid, then.

There were two women standing on either side of him, both with bright, shimmering and oddly-colored hair that marked them as witches. One of them had pointed ears peeking out from the fall of her hair and Shikamaru assumed she was part fae.

Ino wasn’t the only person whose attention they had drawn, and not just because of how attractive all three of them of were. Power radiated off of them in waves and he realized that he knew who the two women were.

Shikamaru was pretty sure he’d only heard of one pastel pink-haired witch before. The student of the famous traveling witch, Tsunade Senju. The fae also had the distinctive white eyes of a Hyuuga. Paired with her purple hair, she could only be one person. He was looking at a powerful druid, the heir of one of the most powerful fae families on the continent, and the most talented healer of her generation.

As the same realization rolled through the rest of the club, Shikamaru sighed. He had been hoping for a quiet night. No way a few idiots wouldn’t decide they needed to prove their strength by picking a fight with the overpowered newcomers.

“Shit,” Ino muttered next to him, apparently agreeing.

Then everything else faded into the background when Hyuuga Hinata ducked out from under the druid’s arm and stepped to the side, turning as she did so to talk to somebody behind her. The other two turned as well, revealing the fourth member of their party.

Mayu was wearing a dress that Shikamaru was fairly certain had lost some fabric somewhere between her house and the club. It was a shimmering light grey and it accentuated her curves and brought a very vivid memory to mind of what she looked like underneath it all.

The hem ended a few inches down her thigh and was tight against her legs, which was good, because if it was one of those loose flippy skirts the whole world would see her underwear if she did more than walk. Though, he didn’t see any panty lines...

The inevitable conclusion to that thought had him swallowing past a suddenly dry throat and sent his gums to tingling. Her legs were bare and pale and long and ended at a pair of very tall stiletto heels. His hand tightened on the cloth in one hand when he imagined them wrapped around his hips while he -

“Shikamaru!” He jolted and twisted to look at Ino, who was watching him with a thoughtful expression.

“Hmm?” He didn’t trust himself to actually speak. He hadn’t missed Mayu’s perfect hair or the dark makeup around her eyes that made them look even more luminous than they had the night before.

“You gonna finish making that drink?”

He looked down at the whiskey bottle that had fallen on the counter from his suddenly-limp fingers and cleared his throat. He nodded and picked it up.

What was wrong with him, anyway? He had to get ahold of himself. He glanced up. The four of them were making their way through the club, though the druid had his arm around Mayu now. Shikamaru pressed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose when he leaned down and said something to her, pressing his body closer to hers.

She laughed and Haruno punched him in the arm. He winced (Shikamaru had heard about her super strength, augmented by magic, so he assumed even a playful punch from her would hurt). Hyuuga was smiling at them and all four of them were completely ignoring the attention they were receiving from the people around them.

He assumed they got it wherever they went. Jesus, talk about a powerful group of friends. Then they were at the bar and Mayu was smiling at him and all he could really do was stare. She was that gorgeous.

“Hi,” she said, eyes wide and focused on him. He was aware that Ino and her friends were looking between the two of them and he cleared his throat.

“Mayu. Hi. You - you look good.”

Her smile widened and his body swayed towards her without his permission. “Thanks. You, too.”

Shikamaru glanced down at his dark jeans and button up. “Ah. Thanks. I mean, Torii said you weren’t injured, but I’m glad to see it’s true. You, uh, here for your stuff?”

Mayu bounced up on her toes. “Oh! Yeah. Well, I think we want to hang out for a while, too.” She looked around. “This club is very cool.”

His lips twitched at her excitement. “Sure. You want your stuff now or later?” He ignored the various eavesdroppers who had moved closer. Yeah, the power vibrating around these four was going to draw people in like flies to honey. He’d need to keep an eye on them.

“Yeah, I can fit it in my bag.” He eyed the tiny sparkling purse doubtfully but grabbed the paper bag holding her things and pushed it towards her. She reached in and rummaged around until she found her phone.

“Yay,” she said and hugged it to her chest before looking down and tapping at the screen furiously.

“You guys want something to drink?”

“Oh! Yeah. Um, these are my friends. This is Hinata Hyuuga.” The girl with the purple hair reached out and shook his hand with a kind smile.

“This is Kiba Inuzuka.” Yep, a druid, and one from a powerful family. He shook his hand over the bar, then turned to Sakura Haruno. “And this is Sakura Haruno. Guys, this is Shikamaru Nara, Torii’s cousin. He saved my butt yesterday.” They all visibly relaxed at that declaration and he shrugged.

“I didn’t do much,” he mumbled, then, “This is my friend Ino Yamanaka.”

“Hello,” Ino purred when she shook Kiba’s hand and his eyes sharpened in interest when they took in her tight purple t-shirt and dark skinny jeans.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Sai had better get around to actually asking her out, or she’d stop waiting around. Ino winked at him, then turned to start taking orders again. Mayu was stuffing her fanny pack into her purse. It disappeared through the opening and the purse didn’t bulge or show any indication that it had happened.

Shikamaru turned his attention elsewhere, even when Ino asked if Mayu had done the spellwork on her bag herself. “Nah, Sakura did it for me. I’m kind of awful at expansion spells.”

“What can I get you guys?” Shikamaru mumbled, looking everywhere but at Mayu while she moved on to her pants and shirt and Ino turned her attention to Sakura to ask if she took commissions.

They all ordered a beer, Mayu’s laced with wolfsbane so that it would have an actual effect on her. Their fingers brushed when he handed it to her and he felt the touch all the way to his bones. Shikamaru waved off their money and ignored the way Mayu bit her lip to hide a smile. He really hated his mother for making him work that night.

Luckily, the crowd was getting thicker as it got later and he was distracted by people clamoring for drinks. Mayu and her friends sat on stools at the bar and Shikamaru let Ino refill their drinks when they ran low.

Still, he caught snippets of their conversations throughout the next forty-five minutes.

“So, how long do you think it will take for your brothers to track us down?” Kiba asked Mayu, leaning around Sakura to do it.

Mayu grimaced. “Probably about two hours. How many times have they called you guys?”

“Um, three times,” Hinata said with obvious concern.

“I can’t believe you snuck out against orders from your alpha, Mayu,” Sakura hissed. “Fugaku is going to kill you. I bet we could come up with a good story if we leave now -”

Shikamaru fumbled the shaker in his hands. Mayu had done _what?_ Defying a direct order from an alpha, whether he was your father or not, was asking for an ass-kicking. His chest tightened. Fugaku seemed to genuinely love her, judging by the way he’d torn Torii a new one last night for ‘endangering’ her. He most likely wouldn’t make his point physically. The cats seemed to prefer head games, anyway.

He poured the gin and tonic into a glass and accepted the money that the pretty human who had ordered it handed him with a grunt. Most of his focus was still on Mayu’s conversation.

“Eh, it’ll be fine,” Mayu said, but she sounded less than convinced.

“Will he put you on house arrest again?” Hinata asked, voice so low it barely carried, and he heard Mayu’s heartbeat increase.

He’d been able to hear it over everything else since he laid eyes on her, despite the loud music and multiple conversations going on around him. “Oh, um. I didn’t think about that. Nah, he only did that after the mouse incident. All I did was go out for a drink.” When Shikamaru glanced over nobody seemed convinced.

Shikamaru wondered what could be so great about a drink that she’d defied orders. He just shook his head and brought his focus back to his job. Ino tossed him a bottle of rum without needing to be asked when somebody ordered a pina colada, and he scooped some ice into a glass for her jack and coke. They’d been partners for almost a hundred and twenty years and didn’t need to talk to work well together.

He caught sight of Chouji at the door a few times, his huge bulk making him a more than effective bouncer. Just his presence reduced fights by a large margin on the nights he worked.

“Mayu Uchiha.” Shikamaru’s attention was brought back to Mayu when a low voice growled her name in a less-than-friendly manner. Not that it had ever been fully off of her in the first place.

He tensed at the three werewolves towering over her. The one who had spoken was a regular at the club, an enforcer in the pack named Miguel. He had broad shoulders and was half a foot taller than her.

Mayu glanced over her shoulder, body relaxed and expression bored. Her heartbeat stayed steady. “Miguel. Miguel’s sycophants,” she greeted.

Kiba turned on his stool and leaned back against the bar, elbows propped on the wood there. Hinata straightened and looked less like a sweet girl-next-door and more like her father, who nobody messed with unless they had to.

Sakura’s eyes were narrowed, but she seemed more amused than worried. Miguel’s eyes flashed silver and he loomed harder. Mayu continued to ignore him. She looked over at Shikamaru and winked, which did nothing to lower his rising blood pressure.

He sauntered over, the shadows behind the bar reacting to his anger and twisting around his feet. Ino straightened and edged closer and he saw her fingers lightly trace what he knew was a knife strapped to the small of her back. The people at the bar quieted and most of them took a step back.

“Miguel. What can I get you?” Shikamaru asked in a level tone that anybody who knew him would recognize as a warning sign.

Ino braced her feet apart and redistributed her weight to her toes. She was smiling warmly at a group of humans who were oblivious to the tension. They mostly seemed like they couldn’t believe their luck at getting to the front of the bar so soon.

Ino’s message was clear when she glanced at him - don’t start something next to the squishy mortals. Got it. He forced himself to slouch.

Miguel eyed him. Just because he was an asshole didn’t mean he didn’t recognize trouble when he saw it. You didn’t become an enforcer by being an idiot, not even in Konoha’s wolf pack, which consisted of a bunch of trigger-happy frat-boy look-alikes. Shikamaru may just be a bartender, but he and Ino could take Miguel down if they had to.

“Nara. I’ll take what she’s having,” he said and tilted his head at Mayu, who rolled her eyes.

“I’ll have one more too, please, Shikamaru.” She leaned forward and his eyes drifted down to the cleavage that was revealed by the motion. Then he saw Miguel’s eyes go there, too, and the bottle of tequila in his hand cracked.

Mayu’s eyes widened and Miguel’s attention was drawn back to him. Luckily, most of the bar was still focused on Miguel, not the bartender.

“You got it,” he said casually.

He turned and grabbed two beers from the fridge and popped their tops, then put them on the bar top. Miguel threw enough money down to cover both their drinks. Mayu rolled her eyes and added a five before bringing her beer to her lips.

Shikamaru looked away before he could have thoughts about her lips wrapped around other things. He needed to get out of there but wasn’t willing to move while Miguel was still doing his level best to intimidate her. Not that it was working.

“Mayu, I’ve never seen you here before. You haven’t been returning my calls.”

“Yeah, well, I blocked your number.” Sakura snorted and Mayu grinned at her.

Miguel smiled, though his eyes were narrowed and one of his fists clenched. Kiba leaned forward and grinned, a feral thing that showed off sharp canines.

“What she’s trying to say, but can’t because she’s supposed to be semi-polite to the wolves, is to fuck off.”

Miguel turned his head slowly to look at Kiba, who wasn’t the least bit worried, not even when the two wolves at Miguel’s back growled. Ino swore under her breath and signaled to Chouji, who started making his way towards them.

“Yeah, get out of here, dog breath. I think Mayu made her opinion on you clear when she beat your ass at the conclave,” Sakura added.

Shikamaru inhaled sharply. The enforcer Mayu had beaten to ensure her freedom from the pack was Miguel? The guy was well-known for enjoying the bloodshed of his job just a little _too_ much.

Miguel snarled at Sakura. “Stay out of this, witch.” He spat out the word like it was something dirty.

“Hey,” Mayu turned on her stool and stood and Shikamaru raised a brow when Miguel took a step back before catching himself. He leaned forward into her space, but it was too late. Everybody had seen the involuntary show of submission.

Mayu smirked and crossed her arms. “Leave my friends alone, Miguel. You and your puppies need to find somewhere else to be. There are some booths open over there.”

She tilted her head up and met his gaze. Power crackled around them. A few humans gasped and Shikamaru gritted his teeth. He hated it when he got too close to a dominance contest between shifters. It was damn uncomfortable.

Sweat began to form on Miguel’s forehead and it was an obvious struggle for him not to look away. Mayu leaned forward, though Shikamaru was fairly certain he saw a tremble run through her arm. He stood still, resisting the urge to cut in and slam Miguel’s face against the bar.

Stepping into a dominance match wouldn’t do anybody any favors, especially Mayu. The pressure in the air increased and though Mayu seemed unmoved, he could tell that it was a strain on her. He was just about to say fuck it and move in when his father’s voice cut through the tension.

“Alright, kids, that’s enough.” Shikamaru let out a breath when the power in his father’s voice cut through the magic pressing down on him.

Mayu and Miguel both looked over at Shikaku at the same time, their wolves sensing that he was the real one in charge, at least here. He was leaning against the end of the bar, arms crossed and eyebrows up. Despite his relaxed demeanor, Shikamaru knew he was ready to start slamming heads together if he had to.

Miguel cleared his throat and stepped back, looking nervous for the first time that evening. “Please forgive the breach, Mr. Nara -”

Mayu cut him off with a gasp. “Oh my god, you’re Shikaku Nara!”

Shikaku looked away from Miguel and focused on her. She was clasping her hands under her chin and bouncing up on the balls of her feet. He gave one long, slow blink. “...Yes?”

Mayu flitted over to stand in front of him. “It’s such an honor, sir,” she gushed.

Shikaku shifted uncomfortably and Kiba slapped a hand over his eyes. Conversation was starting to pick back up around them now that the threat of a fight breaking out had ended. Shikamaru was forced to start taking drink orders again, though his attention was still elsewhere.

Hinata smiled sweetly at Miguel. “It would probably be best if you went to the other side of the bar,” she said in an apologetic tone that also managed to convey a threat to Miguel’s person if he didn’t comply.

Chouji was there, now, so Shikamaru ignored them in favor of enjoying his father’s uncharacteristically confused expression while Mayu continued to talk at him. Shikamaru could relate to the feeling.

“...I mean, mom says that you’re a strategic genius and that you’ve done more for submissive species rights in the supernatural community than just about any other person. And you’ve done it without anybody noticing! She also said that you’ve helped daddy out with cases before and that even he’s impressed by you -”

Shikaku held up a hand and she stopped talking, though she was still beaming up at him. Shikamaru scowled and slammed a jack and coke in front of a vampire, who sent him a wary look before slinking away.

“And you are...?”

“Oh! Right. Yes. I’m Mayu Uchiha. I’m Torii’s good friend. It’s so nice to meet you, sir.”

Shikamaru watched his father’s face twist into a sort of horrified surprise when he realized who he was talking to. Yep, been there. Sakura laughed and Hinata bit her lip to hide a smile. Kiba rested his forehead on the countertop. Mayu continued to smile up at him.

Shikaku seemed reluctantly charmed. “Well, I don’t know that I can really claim credit for all those things -”

Mayu flapped a hand in the air. “Sure, sure,” she said with an exaggerated wink. Shikaku slumped.

“Shikamaru, we’re out of limes. Go grab some from the back,” Ino called.

Shikamaru made sure the wolves were far away from Mayu, who was now asking his father about some random law that he’d apparently been the mastermind behind. He went into the back to grab a tub of already-sliced limes, which took longer than it should have since they were hidden behind the olives.

When he finally returned his father had disappeared and Mayu and her friends had moved out to the dance floor. Shikamaru tripped over the matt behind the bar when his eyes lingered on the way the fabric of her skirt clung to her swaying hips. Luckily, Ino was busy flirting with Sai, who was sitting on the stool Mayu had vacated, so didn't notice.

“Hello, Shikamaru,” Sai greeted and Shikamaru grunted back and ignored the come-hither look a middle-aged woman was sending him.

“Incoming,” Ino muttered and Shikamaru contemplated diving for cover behind the bar when he spotted Ileana Jakovich sashaying her way up to the bar. Most of the men and a good portion of the women she passed stopped whatever they were doing to watch when she glided past them. Her long hair fell all the way down her back in crimson waves, her tan skin a stark contrast to her yellow eyes.

Shikamaru concentrated on opening a tab for a group of giggling brownies but eventually was forced to look up when she called out his name. Ileana was one of the strongest succubi in the country and wasn’t used to rejection. Especially from vampires, who were particularly entranced by their powers since sex was an integral part of their feeding process.

Shikamaru had struck her interest when he refused to go into one of the back rooms set aside for feeding (and all that it generally entailed) with her the first time she offered. He thought it might be some point of succubus pride to get him to give in.

“Shikamaru,” she said in a low, husky tone. “I’ll have the usual, darling.”

“Sure, Ileana.” He pulled down a bottle of top-shelf gin and added ice to a clean shaker.

“I hear you took a job yesterday. I thought you weren’t in that business anymore.” She leaned forward and revealed a truly impressive expanse of cleavage. It might have grabbed his interest - he was celibate, not dead (depending on your definition) - if he hadn’t just seen Mayu do the same thing twenty minutes ago.

He glanced towards the dance floor at the thought and actually took a step forward to go to Mayu when he saw who she was dancing with. Leon Heartchild, the council’s assassin, and an all-around womanizer. He was wearing a leather jacket that stretched over his huge shoulders and a pair of tight blue jeans.

He dwarfed her despite her average height. He was bending over so that a smiling Mayu could say something into his ear. Did she not know who he was?

“Somebody you know?” Ileana’s voice pulled his attention back to her and he just grunted and poured her drink into a martini glass, then reached over and grabbed a few olives on a toothpick to add to it.

“So, you’re taking mercenary jobs again? Because I have something I could use some help with. I’m sure we can come to an...agreement on a sufficient form of payment.”

She ran a finger down his arm when he set her drink down. For once it was easy to deny the pull he felt when she touched him, though he had no idea why. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in sex, it was just that he couldn’t trust himself to stay in control enough to not drink while he did it. That was how people ended up bonding - you drank from somebody that was a good soul match while being intimate in some way.

It’s how he’d ended up bonded to Jen. He’d thought she was a one-night stand and instead they’d ended up with a pre-bond. Then they’d fallen in love and eventually, he’d turned her and they’d married. He swallowed and pulled his arm back, annoyed that Ileana had reminded him of his long-dead wife and bondmate.

“I was just helping my cousin,” he said in a clipped tone that he knew would communicate all the _fuck you very much_ he was feeling. “I’m not back in the business. That’s eighteen dollars.” The men who were sitting around them listening avidly to their conversation looked at Shikamaru like he was a crazy person for denying her.

Ileana’s full, red lips pulled into an attractive pout. “I didn’t mean to upset you, darling. Let me make it up to you? Maybe we could go to a back room.”

“I think what my cousin is not-so-subtly trying to say is, fuck off, he doesn’t want any of what you’re offering.” Shikamaru relaxed when Torii slid into the stool next to Ileana and gave her an unimpressed once-over.

Ileana gasped and widened her eyes, but the sexual pull that she exuded wouldn’t work on Torii. He didn’t hold any interest in women, so her powers just rolled right over him.

“Hey, don’t be rude to the lady,” a large human whose gaze had been riveted to Ileana the whole time blustered. Torii turned his unimpressed stare on him and his lizard brain must have sent a warning to the rest of his body because he snapped his mouth shut.

Ileana huffed and dropped a twenty on the bar. “Shikamaru, darling, let me know when you change your mind.”

She turned and disappeared into the crowd and Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Ino shot him a look from the other end of the bar, where a group of young men and women in power suits had taken her attention. _Are you okay?_ Her eyes asked. He quirked his lips up in a smile and her shoulders relaxed before she turned back to pouring shots for young professionals.

Crimson tended to pull all types since it was one of the few places that humans could mix with the supernatural and feel safe. Shikamaru’s parents had made it clear that everybody was welcome, as long as they followed the rules. If you didn’t, well...they were creative with their punishments.

“Thanks for the save,” Shikamaru said. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

Torii pointed towards where Mayu was still dancing with Leon and her friends. Shikamaru chuckled when he saw Naruto had joined them and was grinning and gyrating his body in a ridiculous manner. “Ah, I see. The boyfriend dragged you out.”

He slid Torii’s preferred beer towards him. “That’s right. Sakura texted him.”

“Is that how you know Mayu?” Shikamaru asked with a casualness he wasn’t feeling. Leon was standing behind Mayu and had an arm wrapped around her middle while Kiba and Hinata danced in front of her.

“Yeah, they’re in the same coven.” Torii glanced over at them and did a double take. “Huh. I wonder if Mayu’s dating Heartchild again.”

Shikamaru fumbled a glass and Torii dove halfway over the bar so he could catch it. “Wha - again? She dated Leon Heartchild? Fugaku let her?”

Torii’s eyes narrowed and Shikamaru forced himself to relax. Right. He shouldn’t be interested in who Mayu dated, because he was celibate and didn’t date.

“According to Naruto, Fugaku learned pretty quickly that he doesn’t have a say in who she dates, though by all accounts it doesn’t keep him from being fucking terrifying when he meets them.”

Shikamaru grunted and tried not to stare when Heartchild leaned down and said something to Mayu. She laughed and smacked her hand against his chest and Shikamaru _hated_ him. Then she glanced over and, even with the music and the people crowded around her, when their eyes met it was just like the first time he’d seen her. Everything else faded and he felt like his feet weren’t connected to the floor anymore.

“Jesus, Shikamaru, what is up with you today?” Ino snapped his attention away from Mayu and he had to swallow past his disappointment and unease.

“Sorry,” he grumbled and went back to making drinks.

“Oh shit,” Torii said a few minutes later.

Shikamaru looked up at him. He was focused on the door and for the second time that night a hush fell over the crowd when somebody walked in.

This time it was a group of three men and there was no confusion about who they were this time. Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke Uchiha. And they looked pissed. Shikamaru’s conclusion that Mayu was all sorts of trouble was reaffirmed.

Itachi lifted his nose into the air, no doubt searching for his sister’s scent. When he found it, he stalked across the floor, Sasuke and Shisui moving to flank him. All three of them moved with a hunter’s grace, wearing their power the same way some people wore their cologne.

Shisui winked at one of the many people eyeing them with undisguised interest. Sasuke glared a group of girls who had edged too close away. Itachi just pretended like he didn’t see any of them, though Shikamaru was sure he’d noted the species, position, and threat level of every person in the room.

The man was a legend. He really hoped the rumor about him being a mind reader wasn’t true. Shikamaru had a feeling that if he knew the thoughts he’d been having about Mayu, Itachi would have no compunction with hanging him from the ceiling by his entrails.

The crowd parted around them and Shikamaru did his best to pretend like he was just a bartender while Torii put his head down on the bar and groaned. Shikamaru didn’t blame him. Itachi and his entourage were heading right towards him.

Ino made eye contact and jerked her head towards the newcomers and Shikamaru shrugged. He had no idea if they were bringing trouble, yet. A glance back at the dance floor showed that Mayu and her friends had disappeared into the crowd. Well, he hoped that’s where she went, and not to the back rooms with her ex-maybe-current boyfriend.

Not that he cared or that it was any of his business. Though Itachi would probably blow a gasket and rip down half the club if that was the case. Older male shifters were still catching up with modern views on women, to the dismay of every female were born or changed within the past forty years.

“Nara,” Itachi greeted stiffly when the three of them made it to the bar.

Torii had sat up and was now hunched over his drink. “Uchiha. Other Uchihas,” he greeted. “Out for a drink?”

Itachi’s eyes narrowed and Sasuke leaned forward and opened his mouth to say something. He snapped it shut when Itachi casually lifted a hand. Shisui was scanning the club, looking either for threats or for their escaped convict. Or both.

“Did Mayu invite you here?”

Torii raised both eyebrows. Oh, that’s right, he didn’t know Mayu was there against orders. “No. My boyfriend’s coven invited him. Plus my aunt and uncle own the place.”

All three pairs of Uchiha eyes focused on Torii, who only twitched once before relaxing under their regard. Shikamaru kept half his attention on them when he edged away to take the drink orders of a group of college kids.

“The Konoha Coven?”

“Yeah.”

Sasuke placed two fingers to his forehead and Shisui looked pained. “So Mayu is here,” Itachi pressed.

Shikamaru flipped three pint glasses up from under the counter and started filling them with draft beer. When Torii responded, he was using his _fuck off_ voice.

“Don’t know. Just got here.”

The lie rolled smoothly off Torii’s tongue and Shikamaru’s lips quirked up. Many people had attempted and failed to interrogate his cousin. Having no heartbeat was a useful thing against shifters, and probably part of why they tended to steer clear of vampires.

Itachi sighed. “Nara. We aren’t here to hurt her, we just need to get her home. She’s -”

A scuffle on the dance floor had everybody at the bar looking over. Shikamaru groaned when he saw that Mayu and co. were in the middle of it. Was an hour too long to ask for before she got into trouble?

It looked like a group of young witches had surrounded their group, judging by the lightly glowing hair colors on display. A young man with a bright red coiffe said something and then gestured towards Hinata. A moment later he leered and made a vaguely sexual gesture.

“Son of a -” Shisui said and took a step forward, affable mein dropping into an expression of deadly rage.

Kiba stepped up, expression grim. He ran a hand down his arm and a tattoo that Shikamaru remembered was a stencil of a large dog lit up. It glowed bright yellow and a moment later a huge, shaggy white dog flashed into existence between the two groups.

The music stopped abruptly, which was the club’s agreed upon signal from their DJ. It meant ‘shit’s going down.’ The rest of the bar went silent around them and everybody turned to take in the current showdown.

“You Konoha Coven witches think you’re so much better than us,” lewd red-hair guy said.

Mayu scoffed and Shikamaru was fairly certain he heard Itachi let out a tiny, exasperated sigh before she spoke. “Uh, we know we’re better than you. Hello, only the best get into our coven.”

Naruto stepped forward and held up a hand when magic flared around the angry group of witches. “Aha, come on, we’re all powerful in our own way. I’m sure if you want a chance to apply for the coven, I can -”

“If they only take the best witches, then why are _you_ there? Everybody knows you’re only good for wards and the occasional spell,” a woman with magenta hair and a nose ring cut in, triumphant.

“Idiot,” Sasuke said and his fists clenched. “Mayu has more talent than all of them put together.”

Shikamaru and Torii exchanged looks and Ino said something about ‘adorable older brothers’ under her breath that everybody heard.

Mayu just rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah, because I focus my magic inward. It’s only made me one of the most accomplished shifters and police officers of my generation. No biggie. Plus, my research has -”

“That’s enough,” Chouji’s gentle tone cut in and Shikamaru relaxed when his large bulk appeared behind them, followed shortly after by Leon Heartchild, who was smiling at Mayu like she was an adorable kitten. Shikamaru wondered idly how difficult he’d really be to kill. It was just professional curiosity, he wasn’t really contemplating murdering him. Probably.

“What is he doing here,” Itachi said in an inflection-less tone that was actually pretty fucking terrifying. Hey, maybe Itachi Uchiha would kill Heartchild and Shikamaru wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

“I don’t know, Akimichi, I think we deserve an answer. The witch has a point. Mayu Uchiha has a tendency to think she’s too good for anybody but her coven and that pack of hers.”

Awesome, Miguel had joined the fray. Shikamaru sighed and put his rag down, then glanced at Ino. She gestured for him to stay behind the bar, then hopped over it in one fluid motion and started making her way towards the drama.

“Don’t,” Shikamaru said when Itachi went to follow. He stiffened and turned flashing red eyes on Shikamaru, but he didn’t flinch. This was his territory and Itachi could either respect that or leave. “I don’t want this to turn into a brawl. If you go over there, that’s what it will be. Ino, Chouji, and Heartchild can handle it.”

Itachi narrowed his eyes and after a moment he relaxed. “As long as nobody touches my sister, that’s fine.”

“Ugh, Miguel, really? Let it go, I don’t want to be part of your pack, so what? Move on, this crush you have is really annoying and creepy -”

Two things happened simultaneously. Miguel growled and dove at Mayu, who stepped forward to meet him, both of their eyes flashing silver. The other witches used the moment of distraction as a chance to strike. Red Coiffe and Magenta Nose-ring flung bright orbs of light that matched their hair color at Mayu’s group.

Mayu twisted out of the way of Miguel’s lunge, grabbed his arm, and twisted, slinging him to the ground. She flipped him onto his stomach and twisted his arm up into a painful hold, then pressed her knee into his lower back. Most people wouldn’t be able to keep a wolf down, but Shikamaru knew she had the strength to handle it. He tried to ignore how sexy the whole thing had been.

Hinata leapt in front of the spells heading for their group. Shisui twitched and then he was gone, heading for the crowd. Itachi pressed his lips together. “Sasuke,’ he said.

Sasuke was already racing over. Hinata had put two glowing hands out and was spinning. A wall of purple light went up between her and the spells. The attacks hit it and bounced back, straight into the casters. Both hit the ground, out cold from their own spells.

Chouji stepped in and reached for Mayu, saying something in a low tone, while Ino put herself between the group of witches and Mayu’s friends. She was joined by Kiba’s large animal guide.

The witches held up their hands and shook their heads when she stood straight, hands on her hips, and said, “Anybody else wanna push their luck tonight?” Yeah, Ino was terrifying when she wanted to be. A couple of young, arrogant witches would be nothing for her and they knew it. 

 

“Oh, hi, Mr. Bouncer. Sorry about this. I swear, he attacked me first -” Mayu started, eyes wide and focused on Chouji even as she remained perched on Miguel, who was growling into the floor.

Chouji’s lips turned up into a gentle smile. “I saw. If you could just -”

Miguel gave a great heave and Mayu flew off of him. She landed on her back and skidded across the floor. Miguel spun and launched himself at her.

Shikamaru was already over the bar and halfway across the room when Shisui appeared in front of the enraged shifter. Seriously, he just appeared, Shikamaru hadn’t even seen him move. He put his hand around Miguel’s neck and slammed him down onto the dance floor. The hardwood cracked around him, because the club couldn’t go a full week without sustaining property damage. He then knelt down low until his face was only inches from Miguel's.

A few screams erupted around them and Shikamaru arrived just in time to hear Shisui say, _“Submit,”_ in a harsh tone that vibrated with power. Everybody froze when Shisui’s wild magic erupted around them and pressed down on Miguel.

Chouji sent him a helpless look and Shikamaru shrugged. Yeah, he wasn’t stepping between that. Shisui was a powerhouse, an alpha in his own right that only stayed with Fugaku and Itachi out of loyalty and a lack of interest in starting his own pack. Plus, Miguel kind of deserved it.

Shikamaru darted to Mayu’s side and helped her up. “Well, that was dumb,” she chirped, but her fluttering heartbeat and the furrow between her brows gave away her unease. “I shouldn’t have taken my attention from him, I guess.”

“Shikamaru, get back to the bar!” Ino barked.

Shikamaru winced. Right, they were never supposed to leave it unattended. He was sure he’d be less at least one bottle of top-shelf alcohol since there were plenty of people with sticky fingers in the club.

“You’re okay?” he asked Mayu urgently.

She turned and smiled at him and his chest tightened until it was difficult to pull in air. Not that he needed it to live. Just to talk and sigh to show his annoyance and other useful things. “Yeah. Thanks.”

He nodded, then dashed back to the bar. Torii rolled his eyes at him when he looked around for anything that was out of place or missing. “Don’t worry, Itachi scared off any would-be thieves.”

Shikamaru let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, man,” he said sincerely.

Itachi nodded his head. “Of course. It’s the least I can do. My sister tends to encourage trouble wherever she goes.” He was pretty relaxed for a guy whose cousin was currently bullying a member of the Konoha Wolf Pack.

Torii snorted and muttered, “Understatement.”

Itachi’s focus went back to Torii. In the background, Miguel was showing his throat to Shisui while his two friends looked on, blocked from interfering by Chouji and Heartchild. Shikamaru winced. Well, that should add some serious fuel to the fire that was the wolves’ and cats’ feud.

“It is my understanding that you and Mayu have been spending more time together as of late.”

Torii’s beer paused halfway to his lips. “I’m gay. No need to give me the _stay away from my sister or die_ speech. Not that she needs your protection.”

Itachi’s lips twitched. “Believe me when I say, I have no interest in directing Mayu’s ire to myself by doing such a thing. Her revenge schemes are generally effective and humiliating.”

Torii chuckled. “I bet.”

“Actually, I wanted to get your number,” Itachi said and Torii choked on his drink.

“Wh - what? I’m. I mean, I’m flattered, but like I said, I’ve got a boyfriend.”

Shikamaru watched the trainwreck happening in front of him with a sort of detached horror while he went about making a margarita. Itachi actually smiled in response to his awkward rejection, though it was brief.

“Ah, no. I actually need your number so that I can inform you when whatever punishment Mayu has brought upon herself this time is over.”

Torii stared at him. “Punishment? And why? So you can give me the _stay away from my sister or die_ speech over the phone, instead?”

“I can see why she likes you. No, so that you can pick her up and go on a...I believe they are called ‘friend dates.’ Perhaps a movie and ice cream?”

Torii’s mouth worked, presumably as he tried to come up with words to adequately describe what he was feeling, and he carefully set his bottle down on the bar. “Okay. You want me, a two-hundred-year-old vampire mercenary, to take your werewolf sister out for ice cream.”

Itachi tilted his head to the side. “Well, I certainly don’t want you to take her to another club,” he said pointedly. “I assume she came here tonight in a scheme to befriend you. While I find her antics sweet, she has also directly defied the order of her alpha to do so -”

He ignored Torii’s flailing and the way his eyes bugged at that tidbit of information. Yep, it was still just as alarming as it had been an hour ago. Shikamaru sulkily took the credit card from an older man who could not only be classified as a silver fox, but also smelled like a fox shifter. Fugaku wouldn’t hurt her, right?

“Oh my god. Please tell me Fugaku won’t kill her. Also, I don’t understand why your family always blames me for her crazy shit.”

Itachi’s eyes narrowed. “My father will not hurt her, though he’s extremely put out. Also, Mayu announced her plan to become your friend earlier today. It’s the only explanation for her behavior. Sometimes she becomes overly focused on her projects to the detriment of herself.”

Torii stared at him and then stared some more. “So...you’re saying that you expect me to start taking Mayu on low-danger friend dates once Fugaku lets her out of time out.”

“That is correct.”

“Because that’s what she wants.”

“Yes.”

“And if I don’t want to be her friend?” Torii kept his whole body relaxed even when Itachi stiffened.

“I think you’ll find you do.” Well, that line was delivered with a lot of threatening undertones.

“Jesus,” Torii said. “Shikamaru, give me a refill. You’re taking this overprotective brother thing a little far, don’t you think? You can’t just force people to be her friend -”

“Your number.” Itachi’s voice held some urgency, now, and when Shikamaru looked over after handing Torii another beer, he saw Mayu was walking meekly between Shisui and Sasuke, who were frog-marching her towards them.

Torii looked up at the ceiling, then rattled off his number. “You know, I already considered her a friend,” he mumbled.

Itachi just hummed and then turned to loom over his sister when she stopped in front of him. “Big brother,” she said and widened her eyes while tilting her head to the side to bare her throat. “You found me so fast. You’re such a good investigator, and handsome, too -”

Itachi’s lips twitched before he went back to being menacing as fuck. Shikamaru pushed five beers at the young professionals from earlier and then added it to their tab after asking their names, fingers flying across the screen of the tablet. Ino was back and looking entirely too amused by the scene playing out in front of them. He couldn't believe she was trying to charm an angry  _Itachi Uchiha,_ she really was insane.

“Mayu, enough. You realize what you’ve done?”

She slumped and looked down before scuffing her foot on the ground. “Yeah. Sorry, Itachi. I just - I had to.”

“Why?”

Mayu bit her lip and her eyes darted over to Shikamaru for a moment before settling on Torii and then going back to the floor. “Just had to,” she mumbled.

Sasuke put two fingers to his forehead and Shisui and Itachi exchanged concerned looks. “Well, we’ll discuss it further at home,” Itachi said and Mayu winced but nodded.

Her friends had slunk up behind them, though Kiba’s guardian animal was gone. Itachi turned his attention to them. “We’ve called your parents and Tsunade.”

Kiba and Hinata both lost some of the color in their cheeks, but Sakura just rolled her eyes. Yeah, from what Shikamaru knew of Tsunade Senju, she wouldn’t care that her apprentice went out to a club.

“Sorry, guys,” Mayu muttered and waved goodbye before allowing her brothers to hustle her away. She turned and looked directly at Shikamaru and mouthed goodbye before turning her attention back to Itachi.

Shikamaru watched her go and wondered why it felt like a part of himself was leaving with her.

Then his mother appeared and started exclaiming over the state of the dance floor and a large group of mercenaries came in to celebrate a completed job and Shikamaru didn’t really have time to think at all for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Shika, you poor bastard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayu realizes she's not doing so great, and Fugaku messes up. Also, we get a real introduction to Leon Heartchild. Spoiler alert: Mayu's ex is hot like burning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this chapter is so angsty. Whoops.

Fugaku was furious. Mayu had known he'd be angry, of course, but she’d never seen him turn this amount of rage on her before. Not even directly after the Blowjob Incident, though by all accounts Dai had gotten the full force of his anger. Jeeze, no wonder he had dumped her after.

His office was crackling with energy and she didn’t even try to resist the urge to cringe and look down at her feet. Itachi was leaning up against the wall behind Fugaku, arms crossed over his chest. His face was impassive but she could see his concern in the tension around his eyes.

Mayu knew Fugaku wouldn’t hurt her, but the way his nostrils were flared and his fists were clenched had Tulip whimpering in the back of her mind. It was the disappointment on his face, though, that had Mayu wishing she could find a dark hole to crawl into.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were already wet. What had she been thinking, anyway? Tulip meekly sent an image of Shikamaru smiling at her when she first got to Crimson. Right, she hadn’t been thinking, not really. And that was bad, really bad.

The door opened behind her and Mayu knew it was her mother by the cadence of her footsteps and her familiar smell and heartbeat. She was too busy panicking to do more than bare her neck to her as she passed.

It was already starting. The break down of her mental facilities. Mayu was rash, but she wasn’t this rash. She just...hadn’t really stopped to think beyond going to see Shikamaru.

Her mind ran through the other evidence. The slow healing of the injuries she’d sustained while fighting the troll. Missing that jump from the roof earlier that evening. Miguel being able to throw her off of him - Mayu was stronger than him, she knew that.

How long before she became so weak she couldn’t move? How long did she have before she lost her mind? She saw Tulip's thoughts, and they all involved them whithering away while Shikamaru looked on.

“Mayu, can you breathe? I need you to breathe.” A warm hand on her back pulled her from her thoughts. She had somehow ended up on her knees and her whole body was shaking.

Her breath was coming in small, desperate-sounding sobs and her arms were wrapped around herself. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening. She’d lost herself in Tulip's panic and distress.

Mayu never lost herself to her wolf. Control over her mind was something Kakashi and Fugaku had spent a lot of time teaching her. An out-of-control wolf with witch’s blood would be a walking natural disaster.

Mayu looked up and had to fight another rising tide of panic when she saw her parents’ stricken expressions. Itachi was next to her and his large, warm hand was rubbing up and down her back. Fugaku tore his troubled gaze from her to look at his son and second-in-command. She was sure they were having one of their silent conversations over her head.

“Mayu, you know I would never hurt you and Tulip,” Fugaku said, voice stilted. Wow, he must be really worried if he was calling Tulip by her name. 

“I know.” She wiped her hands across her wet cheeks and stood.

Her whole body felt weak and shaky. She leaned against her mother and looked down at the floor. Tulip was trying to send waves of reassurance despite her panic, along with a hint of regret. 

“Mayu,” Fugaku said and she glanced up at him. He was still angry, but it was mixed with concern, now. “Have you taken anything tonight?”

Mayu’s head shot up at the question, disbelief chasing some of her anxiety away. “Uh, are you asking if I’m on drugs?”

His eyes narrowed. “It’s not an unfounded conclusion to come to. Your behavior the past few days has been erratic and your reaction just now shows you are not fully in control of yourself.”

Mayu pressed her lips together and looked down at her feet, which were starting to ache from wearing heels for too long. Itachi moved back to his position flanking Fugaku and Mikoto stepped away from Mayu. Right, this was a disciplinary meeting. No amount of panicking would get Mayu out of her punishment.

“I’m not on drugs,” she said softly, the weight of the gazes of three pack members who were much stronger than herself pressing down on her.

Some of the tension left the room. “Then what, exactly, were you _thinking?”_

The last word trembled with power, vibrating through her. She tilted her head further to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. Tulip was a cowering, miserable mess in her mind. _Enough,_ Mayu thought. _We don’t cower. Stop._

She took a breath, and though she kept her posture submissive the shaking faded. “I’m sorry. I guess that I - that I wasn’t.”

The silence in the room was oppressive and it was Itachi who spoke next. “Mayu. You aren’t stupid. I understand the need to rebel at your age, but this is too far.”

Mayu nodded and her stomach lurched into her throat at the disappointment in his tone. “I -” she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry.”

Fugaku sighed. “You defied me. In front of the whole pack.”

Mayu moved her head in an approximation of a nod. “I know.”

“I can’t let it go.”

“I understand.”

When she glanced up at Fugaku he was studying her with a frown. “I’m extending your suspension from the Unit to six months. And you’ll be on house arrest for two.”

Mayu gasped and took a step forward and raised a hand towards him. She couldn’t be on house arrest. She would _literally_ die. He slashed a hand through the air to stop her protests before they began.

“You can’t be trusted on your own until you work through...whatever this is,” he said in a cold tone. “You can go to coven meetings, but that’s it. I’m increasing security, so don’t think you can just sneak through again. The woods and outbuildings within the Uchiha property are open to you.”

Mayu stared at him. She was at a loss as to how to salvage this situation. She couldn’t just tell him about Shikamaru. Mayu knew Fugaku wouldn’t exactly tie him down and force him to marry her, but he would go to Shikamaru’s parents.

He would tell them and they would tell Shikamaru, and she’d never know if he accepted her because of _her_ or out of pity or politics. If he accepted her at all. If he didn’t and she died...she couldn’t be sure what her parents would do. What her brothers would do.

She couldn’t stay here for two months, either. She was already weakening. Actually, it was probably a good thing she wasn’t on the force in her current state. Her mind raced through possible solutions while Itachi stepped forward to say something.

“A year, both off the force and out of my workshop, and drop the house arrest,” she blurted. Itachi stopped talking and all three of them stared at her.

“Mayu, darling. This isn’t a negotiation. You know that,” Mikoto said. Fugaku was back to being furious and Itachi was staring hard at her, obviously trying to communicate _shut up, you’re making it worse._

“My decision is final,” Fugaku said through gritted teeth.

“Daddy, I can’t stay locked up here. Please. Two - two years off the force. And you can turn my workshop into a training room for your enforcers.” She took another step forward, desperation rising.

“Why? What could be so important that you’d trade your workshop and two years on the force for two months of house arrest?” He sounded so confused and worried that her heart clenched.

“I - I can’t tell you,” she whispered.

His expression closed off. “My decision is final.

“Daddy, please, you can’t -“

She saw the moment he lost his temper. He leaned forward, eyes flashing red, body tensed, and roared. The power pulsing in the room dropped her to her knees and Tulip whimpered and curled up inside her mind cave. It seemed to go on and on, echoing throughout the room and in her mind. She flattened herself against the carpet and tilted her head so that her neck was totally bared.

He’d never done this to her before. Then again, he’d never had to. Her throat tightened and she could barely think past the feeling of betrayal. Fugaku might be stern, but he was always willing to listen and he knew that she hated to feel out of control of her reactions and feelings. Didn’t he know she wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important? She had offered to give up her workshop,after all.

By the time he stopped she was crying again, but this time it wasn’t from panic. It was all just too much. She’d found a mate, and it was killing her. Itachi was disappointed in her. And now her father had forced her to submit.

She didn’t try to get up or argue again. Mayu just shoved her face into the carpet while the echoes faded, sobbing. It was quiet for a long time and she sank her fingers into the carpet, desperate for something to hold on to, eyes clenched shut.

“Mayu.” Fugaku’s voice was soft and hesitant in a way she’d heard from him before.

She heard his feet on the carpet, felt the presence of her alpha wash over her. For the first time in her life, it was invasive instead of comforting and she rolled away from him onto her side and curled herself into a ball.

“Just leave me alone,” she whispered. “You’ve made your point. Just - just leave me alone.”

His breath caught on his inhale and she felt his hesitation before he spoke. “Very well.”

His footsteps were the only sounds in the room other than Itachi and Mikoto’s breathing. The door opened and after he left she was able to suck in a full breath, though she didn’t move.

“Darling -” Mikoto started.

“Don’t,” Mayu said and it came out harsher than she meant it to.

Mikoto sighed. “Okay. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk.” Her footsteps faded down the hall.

Mayu stayed where she was for a long time, at first because she didn’t think she could move and then because she didn’t want to. Everything just felt so...hopeless. Tulip was silent, but Mayu could feel her. Her wolf didn’t really understand why she was so upset by Fugaku’s actions.

After all, she was a wolf, Fugaku was her alpha, and submission was just a part of that. But Mayu didn’t like to be forced into anything and she and her father had always had an understanding. Though, to be fair, Mayu had broken it first.

Itachi stayed in the room with her the whole time. He didn’t speak, but eventually, he shuffled across the room and knelt next to her. His first touch on her arm was light and tentative, but when she didn’t react, he slid his arms under her and stood.

He was warm and smelled like family, so she turned and curled into him. His arms tightened and he made a low, rumbling sound in his chest. Her eyes filled with tears again and he didn’t complain when they started to soak through his five hundred dollar shirt.

It wasn’t until they got to the stairs that the thought hit her. She was going to miss him. She wasn’t sure when she’d made the decision that she was going to leave. Maybe it was the moment Fugaku had forced her to her knees. Either way, she couldn’t just stay and waste away here and she couldn’t tell them the truth. They made it to her room and he set her on her bed, then stretched out next to her without having to be asked.

“It’s hard, the first time,” he said after a few minutes.

She shuddered at the thought of that happening again. He must have sensed her thoughts because he sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “He regrets it already, I can tell. He’s just worried. You’ve never been something he can control, but it’s never been an issue before now since you usually toe the line with him.”

“I know.” Her voice was raspy. “I know he just...lost his temper.”

Itachi hummed his agreement and a moment later she heard shuffling at the door. She breathed deeply and recognized her other two siblings’ scents. After a moment they both came into the room and the bed dipped under their weight.

Sasuke laid down on her other side and Chiasa somehow ended up sprawled over all three of them. “Are you okay?” she whispered, voice small and scared. “We felt when daddy - when he -”

“‘M fine,” Mayu lied. “Just stay with me tonight, okay?”

Chiasa nodded against her shoulder and Mayu swallowed when guilt settled in her stomach. Not just for causing this situation and freaking Chiasa out in the first place, but for what she was going to do next.

She slowly relaxed when the scent of her siblings and their combined comfort washed over her. “I love you guys. Just. No matter what, okay?”

Itachi and Sasuke both stiffened at her words, obviously knowing something was up, but Chiasa just tightened her arms around her. “Well, we love you too, silly.” A pause, then, “Why is your dress so small?”

Sasuke vibrated with laughter next to her and Mayu’s giggle was wet but real. Itachi just sighed. Mayu closed her eyes and breathed out some of her tension. It would be okay.

A few minutes later she dropped into her mind cave and winced at the disarray around her. There were cracks in the walls and a thick fog was floating in the air, making it difficult to see anything but vague shapes. It had a damp, unhealthy smell, like black mold or rot. Tulip appeared next to her, looking entirely too guilty.

“You knew,” Mayu said and gestured around at the mess. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

Tulip dropped her head. An image of Shikamaru casually flipping a bottle around his wrist before pouring a shot flitted across the room. “You wanted to see him and you didn’t want me to stop and think about it,” Mayu supplied, then sighed.

“Tulip, I know that this is hard, okay? But we need to be on the same team. Everything just got so much worse and if I can’t trust you...” she drifted off, then shook her head.

Tulip looked wretched and she didn’t really have the heart to scold her. She knew her wolf was taking on the brunt of the pain from the mating bond, shielding Mayu from the worst of it. “No more hiding things, okay?”

Tulip nuzzled her and Mayu patted her head. Then she turned and took in the fog with a sigh. “Alright. Let’s take care of this and then we need a plan.”

She raised her hands and started to chant.

By the time she opened her eyes, it was morning and only Sasuke remained. She was covered in a blanket and somebody had put her into her pajamas. He was sitting up next to her, leaning against the headboard and tapping away at his phone.

“Chiasa had to go to school. Itachi took your laptops - yes, he found the hidden one - and both your tablets. He’d have taken your phone, too, if you hadn’t already lost it.” Mayu hid her relief that Itachi didn’t know she’d gotten her phone the night before.

Sasuke said it all in a bored tone, but the tense way he was holding himself gave away his unease. Mayu curled up next to him and put her head on his thigh. “Please don’t yell at me. I don’t want to fight.”

He sighed and lowered his phone. “I just don’t get it.”

“I know.”

“Itachi said you won’t talk about it.”

“I can’t.”

Sasuke’s jaw ticked. “You know, if you’re in trouble - any kind of trouble - I’ll help.”

“Yeah, well, that’s kind of the problem.”

His brow furrowed and she flapped a hand at him before sitting up. Her eyes were gummy and the skin on her face felt dry and cracked. That’s what she got for falling asleep without washing off the tears or makeup.

“I’m going to shower. I’m guessing Itachi told you to keep an eye on me?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Not like you’re thinking. He’s worried about you.”

Mayu studied the way his brows were lowered and the slight twist in the corner of his mouth. Itachi wasn’t the only one who was worried, it seemed. She leaned forward and hugged him. He huffed, just to let her know he was doing it under duress, before wrapping his arms around her.

“You’re such a brat,” he mumbled.

Thanks to the repair work she'd done last night, Mayu’s mind was clearer than it had been since the troll. She took her time in the shower so she could scheme without interruption. There was still a heaviness in her chest whenever she thought about her fight with Fugaku, but she took deep breaths until she could think past it.

She strolled out of the bathroom in her towel and raised a brow when she saw Sasuke was still on her bed, scrolling through his phone. He rolled his eyes, but stood and left, closing the door behind him. She bit her lip. She could still hear him right outside the door, leaning up against the wall, but she didn’t dare put up a ward.

Somebody had put her shoes and sparkly purse next to her bed and she hurried over and crouched down to rummage around in the purse. She kept an ear out for Sasuke after finding her phone. It only had a quarter battery left. It was enough.

She opened her messaging app with one hand and dug around in the purse for her fanny pack with the other. It was well stocked with spells and tools and a few changes of clothes, but she’d need to add some things before she left.

She opened her dresser drawer and grabbed a handful of underwear and shoved them into the fanny pack. She was glad she’d thought to turn off all sounds on her phone the night before because otherwise, Itachi would have heard the half dozen texts she gotten from her friends and know that it was back in her possession.

She ignored them and scrolled until she found Torii’s name and typed out a new message to him. _I have a job for you._

She hit send, then pulled on underwear and a sports bra before moving on to the next drawer. She tugged on a t-shirt before adding the rest to her pack and was surprised when she glanced at the screen and saw a new message from Torii had already come in.

It was two in the afternoon, she’d expected him to be sleeping. He was old enough that the sun didn’t knock him out, but vampires still preferred to be unconscious for the daylight hours.

_Forget it, no way am I giving your family a chance to harass me again._

Mayu rolled her eyes. _I’ll make it worth your while._

She pulled on a pair of jeans and packed a few pairs of pants. Socks were next and she sat on the bed and put a pair on as quickly as she could. She moved to her closet and started shoving sweaters and dresses and boots into the pack. Those wards she put up around Sakura’s house had totally been worth the expansion spell.

After she was done she knelt in front of her fire safe and typed in the code. Then she pulled out a stack of money and fake IDs she kept there for emergencies and added those to her pack before grabbing an old, musty tome with a swirling pattern on the front.

She snorted when she saw Torii’s reply. _There’s not enough money in the world._

She snapped a picture of the front of the book and sent it along with her reply. _True. But then, I’m not offering money._

“Mayu? What the hell are you doing?” Sasuke called through the door.

She moved into her bathroom. “I look like shit, okay? I’m trying to look like less of a trainwreck.”

He grumbled but didn’t say anything else. Her phone lit up. _Is that what I think it is?_

She grinned. Yeah, she thought that’d get his attention. _If you think it’s a three-hundred-year-old Uzumaki spellbook, then, yeah, it’s what you think it is. I know Naruto’s birthday is coming up. If you want it, you need to break me out of my parents’ house. Will email you relevant information, see you tonight._ After a moment of thought she added, _Please, it’s important. I need your help._

She spent a few minutes typing out her plan for escape and relevant information in shorthand before emailing them to him. She turned off her phone without looking at the influx of messages from Torii and shoved it into her fanny pack along with some toiletries.

When Sasuke burst into the room she was carefully applying eyeliner in front of her vanity mirror. His gaze fell on the book on her bed and he wrinkled his nose. “That looks boring.”

“Well, it’s what I plan on doing with my afternoon, so.”

He sighed. “It’s better than you blowing up the compound, I guess.”

Mayu grinned because he didn’t sound convinced of that. Her chest ached when she realized this might be the last time he sniped at her for awhile - possibly forever. Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face because he was watching her with a furrowed brow.

“Mayu...what happened with dad...” 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her tone was flat and lifeless, but it was either that or rolling up into a ball and crying some more.

Mayu wasn’t stupid. She knew her parents weren’t perfect, but she’d never felt less like their daughter and more like a random pack member. She took a shaky breath and blinked rapidly.

“Come on, my grumpy guard,” she said with false cheer and looped her arm through his, leaning into him. She breathed in deeply and committed the way he smelled at that moment to memory.

His lips pressed together and after a pause, he leaned over and rubbed his cheek on the top of her head. It was what Itachi always did to her when he sensed she needed extra contact. Coming from Sasuke it was practically a declaration of his deep brotherly love. She tightened her hold on his arm and beamed up at him, then gave him a messy kiss on the cheek.

“Mayu, you're disgusting, you _slobbered_ on me -”

They bickered all the way down the stairs, but he didn’t pull his arm out of her grasp. Sasuke wasn’t lame all the time. Just most of it.

000

Mayu sat in the passenger seat of Torii’s car six hours later. He kept glancing over at her and opening his mouth as if to say something before snapping it shut. The world was blurring past them as he sped down the road. She felt every mile of it while she traveled further and further from her pack. She pressed her face into her raised knees and focused on not bursting into tears.

It was temporary. She was just protecting them and Shikamaru. Maybe if she said it enough she'd stop feeling so horrible about it. Tulip was doing her best to keep her anxiety to herself, but it was leaking through. Mayu couldn’t blame her since things were about to get a lot worse for them.

Still, she couldn’t dwell on it. Mayu had a mission and focusing on all the things that had already gone wrong would only distract her. If she wanted to fix things with her family, the first step was getting Shikamaru to accept her as a mate.

One last shuddering breath was all she allowed herself before she took the file labeled _family_ and tucked it away into the back of a thick filing cabinet in her mindcave. They’d be upset, but they’d understand in the end.

“Take me to Pine and 32nd,” she said in a clear, level tone. “Wow, you really are the best at retrieval missions, huh? And traveling in your shadows was _freaky -”_

He relaxed at her return to her normal self and sighed. “Mayu, you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“Nope.” She beamed at him and he glared. “Don’t worry, Torii, I’ve got it covered.”

“Why do I somehow doubt that?”

In the end, he dropped her off without her revealing why, exactly, she’d run away from home. Their usual back and forth went a long ways towards cheering her up, though, especially when she handed the book over.

“Naruto will love this,” he said in a low, reverent tone, and ran his head across the crackling cover.

“Yeah, you're totally getting laid.” Torii huffed but didn't deny it. Mayu had planned on reading it and then passing it on to Naruto on his birthday, but she supposed he'd probably like it better coming from Torii, anyway. Most of his family’s coven had been wiped out long before he was born, and he collected artifacts from their line. This book, in particular, had more than a few Uzumaki spells thought long lost.

She reached for the door handle, then hesitated. “Torii...you’re a good friend. Thank you.”

“Mayu, whatever trouble you’re in -”

“Bye, Torii,” she chirped, then leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Mayu -”

She jumped out of the car and closed the door behind her, then broke into a run and darted between two houses. Torii could easily follow her, hiding in the shadows created by the streetlights that had turned on around them, but she knew he wouldn’t. As his client, she was afforded a few luxuries.

Mayu sprinted through residential neighborhoods for almost an hour before she made it to the house she was looking for. It was a small, one-story cookie-cutter house with a neat lawn and blue door. There was a black Dodge Hellcat in the driveway. A little on the nose, but okay. Last time Mayu had been there he’d been driving a GT-500.

She knocked politely on the door and bounced up on her toes. Right, she was doing this, no use angsting over it. The door opened and Mayu took a moment to appreciate the sexiness that was her ex-lover.

Leon Heartchild was all power and deadly grace wrapped in six-foot-four package. His shoulders were broad beneath the grey button up he was wearing, well-muscled forearms exposed where he’d rolled up the sleeves. His hips were clad in black jeans that showed off just how lean and long his legs were. Though his black hair was currently braided back, she knew it fell almost to his waist when loose.

He’d told her once that he kept it grown out because it reminded him of his grandfather, who had raised him after his father had died and his mother had left. Like Mayu, he was half-shifter from his mother’s side and half-witch from his father’s. He had dark eyes and full lips with high cheekbones that he had inherited from his father, who had been full-blooded Cherokee. His expression was almost always broody and he enjoyed leather jackets an unhealthy amount, which only added to the whole dangerous, sex-on-a-stick vibe he had going on.

Mayu probably could have loved him, if she hadn’t protected her heart against him. He was very clear on his stance on long-term relationships, however, so they’d simply become very good friends who had a lot of amazing sex for awhile.

“Mayu.” He leaned against the doorjamb. “A booty call, really? I thought we’d decided to stop doing that.”

“Leon. I need your help.”

He straightened at her tone. He glanced up and down the street and she waved his concern off. “Don’t worry, nobody followed me. Torii Nara covered my tracks.”

“Alright. Come inside.” He stepped away from the door and she followed him in, waiting while he locked the door and put up his wards.

She let him lead her down the dim hall. It had always amused her, how normal his house was. He was a half-witch lion shifter who spent his time murdering the elite when they went bad for the council. Yet he had spent hours agonizing over wallpapers and paint colors and countertops while they’d been dating.

People assumed they’d spent all their time in bed while they'd dated when in reality Mayu had a lot of memories of painting his walls and installing hardwood floors with him. Okay, and having lots of sex. Sometimes against said walls and floors.

She sat down at his kitchen table (oak, imported from Germany) and accepted a cup of coffee from him. He settled into the chair across from her and leaned forward, resting his arm on the surface of the table.

“You look like shit. And I know for a fact that Fugaku had no intention of letting you out of his sight for a good few weeks at the very least. So why are you here?”

Mayu sipped the warm drink, which was some expensive freshly-ground artisanal coffee, knowing Leon. It tasted faintly of cinnamon. “I found my mate.”

Leon’s whole body froze and suddenly she wasn’t looking at her friend. Right now he was the dagger of the Council, and he was trying to figure out if she was out of her mind. She pressed her lips together and stilled. Leon loved her, in his own way, but he would kill her in a second if he thought she’d gone feral.

Her feelings weren’t hurt by the thought. It was, after all, why she was there. The silence drew out and Mayu tightened her grip on her cup and waited him out. Finally, he let out a breath of air.

“Are you here so I can kill you? Because you know I can’t do that unless I have permission or you’re in the midst of terrorizing the city. Not to mention, that’s your alpha’s job, and it would dishonor him if you asked somebody else.”

“That’s partly why I’m here. If this goes badly, I don’t want to put my family through that, Leon. It would break daddy’s heart if he had to kill me. It would break my brothers’ hearts to have to bring me in so he could. That’s why...that’s why I’m going to break my pack bonds.”

Despite her determination not to dwell on something that had to be done, her voice was ragged when she said it out loud. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself not to cry. Mayu had to be strong enough to get through this if she wanted to return to them.

Leon released a long breath. “That would leave you vulnerable. You know the moment the wolves found out you’re a free agent they’d be on the hunt to bring you into their fold. Whether you wanted it or not."

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I need you to be my alpha.”

Leon looked just as unimpressed as she assumed he would when she opened her eyes. “You know I don’t do pack.”

“I know. I do. I promise, it’s temporary. Either I’ll be dead in a few months, or I’ll be mated and petitioning to return to the Uchiha pack.”

“And if they don’t take you back?”

“Then I’ll figure something out. I promise, Leon, I won’t trap you. You know I won’t.”

Leon leaned back and sighed. “I don’t want to make an enemy out of Fugaku Uchiha. Or your brothers, for that matter.”

Mayu waved her hand in the air. “They already hate you, anyway.”

Leon’s lips twitched and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Passively. If I take you in as a pack member, I have no doubt your brothers and cousin will start trying to kill me for real and make it look like an accident.”

“You could use the extra exercise. I mean, things have been pretty calm lately, I think I see a bit of pooch forming -”

He raised his brows at her and stood. He lifted his shirt to reveal his very toned and flat stomach and Mayu laughed. “Okay, so, maybe not.”

She sobered and looked down at the table. “Please, Leon. I just - I need time. I can’t tell anybody who my mate is, not if I want to make sure that whatever he chooses is _his_ choice.”

Leon sat back down. “Who is it?”

Mayu looked away and he sighed. “Mayu. You’re my friend, but you know I won’t let it affect my decisions. We’ve talked about how I feel about the way the Konoha wolves deal with mates. I won’t behave like Alpha Nomaka.”

The alpha of the wolf pack danced right on the line of what was legal and what wasn’t when one of his wolves found their mate. Anything to get the person to give in and bond with them. Leon had told her that he was fairly certain Nathan Nomaka did less-than-legal things when bribes and guilt trips didn’t work, but so far hadn’t been able to prove it.

It had given the wolves a not-great reputation, especially since he didn’t bother to reign them in when they started to lose it. Leon was usually called in to ‘take care of it.’ He was not impressed with Nomaka’s leadership and they’d had long conversations about how he _should_ handle it. Actually, the idea to not tell her possible-future-mate what was happening and attempt to court them without the extra pressure had been Leon’s. Though she doubted he thought she'd have to use it one day. It was more of a 'consent is important' rant that she took to heart.

Mayu took a deep breath. She needed an ally, and Leon was a good one. She trusted that he'd let her do it her way. “Shikamaru Nara.”

To her surprise, he stood so quickly that his chair fell back. He loved those stupid chairs. “Fuck. Fuck!”

He turned and strode across his kitchen to glare out the window above his two-thousand-dollar copper sink. Mayu stared at him, wide-eyed. It wasn't often that Leon lost it, and it never meant something good. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

Leon lifted his hand and rubbed at his chest when he turned around. She knew there was a jagged scar there that he’d never given her the history behind (she assumed it had something to do with his mother). He only rubbed it when he was truly upset. His brows were pulled down and his jaw was ticking.

“Shikamaru Nara has a history that...complicates things.”

Mayu wrapped her hands around her mug. “What history?”

Leon sighed, then bent down to pick up the chair, squatting down to study it for damage. He must not have found any because he sat down in it and met her gaze. There was no challenge or dominance games in it, so she didn’t look away.

“Just tell me. I need to know.”

“He’s on my watchlist.”

Mayu jolted. The watchlist was given to Leon by the council. On it were people that were considered unstable in some way. Leon had permission to kill them if he thought they posed an immediate danger.

“But - but he seems fine. And I’d know if he had a record.”

Leon shook his head. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but. Well, it’s important. Shikamaru Nara was once considered one of the best mercenaries in the business along with his partners, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi.”

“I met them at the club last night,” Mayu said slowly. The Akimichi and Yamanaka had a long history with the Nara. According to their legends, the first of their clans were three demons who traveled the world together and were as close as brothers.

One had power over the mind. The second could grow until he was taller than the biggest giants and crush everything in his path. The third spoke to and controlled shadows. Mayu had never bothered getting the exact story, but they’d ended up saving a powerful vampire, who had offered to give them more power by changing them. They had accepted, and the three most powerful clans of vampires were born, blessed with special abilities outside of the usual super strength and speed, and their families remained closely allied to this day.

Mayu had no idea if it was a true story - it probably had _some_ truth to it - but it certainly wasn’t strange to see them hanging around each other. It was well-known that if you messed with one of the clans, you messed with all three.

“So, why are they working at a dance club if they're some super-group of mercenaries?”

Leon frowned down at the table. “Fifty years ago, Shikamaru bonded to and married a woman.”

Mayu's thoughts stuttered to a halt for a good three seconds. Then they kicked back into high gear. “The mate bond wouldn’t have tried to take if he were already bonded,” she whispered.

“Well, he's not bonded anymore. Thirty years ago, he and his partners pissed off the wrong person on a job. In the cluster that resulted, his bondmate was killed.”

Mayu’s eyes filled with tears. That was...awful. Most vampires didn’t survive the loss of their bondmate, since it was too painful. The thought of Shikamaru going through something like that made it difficult to breathe.

“The person who did this...”

“Dead. Shikamaru, his partners, and his cousin killed him and every last person in his organization. Mayu, you need to calm down.” She looked down at her hands and winced when she saw the hairline cracks forming in the mug she was holding.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, forcing her fingers to relax. This whole lack of control thing was awful. When she opened her eyes, Leon was studying her warily.

“I know,” she said and attempted to smile. “I’m not doing so great.”

Leon’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t comment. “After her death, he spent a good ten years on the edge before he pulled himself out of it.”

“Well, if he recovered, why is he on your watchlist?”

“He refuses to form an intimate connection when he feeds to avoid the chance that he’ll bond again.”

Mayu’s lips parted. “But...without that, he runs the risk of going feral.” Vampires needed to absorb a person’s aura along with their blood when they fed to keep hold of their humanity. The moment of intimacy didn't have to be anything lasting - pairing it with sex was generally enough, or feeding on a close friend would work, too. Unattached vampires generally went with the first option, since it was easy and enjoyable. Without it, they became little more than animals. Though, for a vampire of Shikamaru’s age and strength, it would take a while for him to lose it.

“Exactly. Mayu, he’s basically sworn to never bond with somebody again, let alone fall in love with them. He told me point-blank that he’d come to me when it was time.”

The terror that flooded her system was all-consuming and unavoidable. Most of it was coming from Tulip. He was their mate, they had to protect him, they had to...

“Deep breaths. Good, I’m going to count, Mayu, can you count with me?”

She was on the floor again with no memory of getting there. She'd lost herself again. Awesome. Leon was crouched next to her and was sending soothing alpha vibes her way, though he wasn’t touching her. She pulled her thoughts back into herself, listening closely to Leon's voice as he counted to help ground her.

“Good. That’s good.” She looked up at him after a few minutes of breathing in and out.

“What do I do? Leon, what do I _do?”_ Her voice was ragged and he reached out and squeezed her shoulder with a large, warm palm. She shuffled over until she was leaning against him and he wrapped his arms around her.

“You follow the plan. It’s still his choice, no matter the consequences. Mayu, if anybody can change his mind, it’s you. You have to try, you understand? For both of you. For your family. And for me. Okay? No more of this panicking bullshit. You and Tulip are stronger than this.”

Mayu swallowed and looked up at the hard planes of his face. Right, this is why she’d come to him. He wouldn’t coddle her, but he’d help her in all the ways that counted. And if he needed to, he’d kill her before she could hurt anybody.

“Does this mean you’ll be my alpha?”

Leon stood and pulled her with him. “Unfortunately. You’re sure? I’m a bastard and I won’t take your shit like I know Fugaku does.”

She nodded. “I’m sure.”

He sighed. "Alright. Come to the couch and sit.” She followed him into the living room to the couch they’d spent a month looking for before he'd finally bought it and sat next to him. It was ridiculously comfortable.

She removed her shirt without having to be told. A moment later his eyes glowed purple and his power washed over her. She shivered and let Tulip come to the surface. She knew her eyes were shining silver and her own power spread and intertwined with his own.

“Do you accept me?” His voice seemed to vibrate in her very bones.

A tear dripped down her cheek, but her tone was even and sure when she answered. “I do.”

Without any of the ceremony she knew most alphas preferred, he leaned down and sank his teeth into her shoulder. The pain was intense and she sobbed when his power flooded her system, burning all of the prior claims on her away.

The threads that had connected her to her pack all her life snapped. It was a relief when she passed out.  


000

Fugaku lay in bed, reading the same line over and over again in the file that he’d pulled up on his tablet. His thoughts were far away, focused on what had happened with Mayu.

He couldn’t deny that he regretted how he’d reacted. Mayu was just so infuriating at times. Never, though, had she behaved as she had the night before. Despite his guilt, he couldn’t stop the prickling rage that moved down his spine when he recalled her actions.

She’d snuck out while on house arrest to go to a club she knew was off-limits to all pack members under the age of thirty. Crimson was a political nightmare waiting to happen, not to mention the dangerous crowd there. The Nara did their best to keep everything neutral and people safe, but they could not keep people from acting stupidly.

Mayu could have ended up bonded against her will, dead, or worse. Of course, he had a feeling anybody who bonded themselves to her would regret it posthaste. Still, most people knew he held a soft spot for his middle child and would have no compunction against pressing on it.

And then she’d tried to argue against his chosen punishment, on top of hiding things from him. There was something seriously wrong with her - the panic attack had been proof of that. Yet when he’d asked she would not reveal what was going on. When she’d tried to tell him what he could or could not do, well. All of his frustration and worry had come to a head.

The way she’d cowered on the floor, crying, when it was done was so outside of the person that she was that it had felt like a punch to his gut. He’d betrayed her on a deep level, and worse, he’d forced her to betray her own mind. He just hadn't known what else to even do with her, at that point.

She hadn’t come down to dinner. Sasuke had said she wasn’t feeling well, but everybody knew she was avoiding Fugaku. He set down his tablet and glanced over at Mikoto, who was writing an email to somebody on her laptop next to him. She hadn’t said anything, but he knew she disapproved of how he’d handled the situation.

Fugaku knew this would probably blow over, especially if he made some sort of gesture. Of course, he couldn’t go back on his punishment - she needed to understand that what she had done wasn’t okay, not to mention that he wanted her close until he and Itachi figured out was wrong with her - but perhaps he could get her to open up. Mayu was always fairly willing to forgive and forget the members of their family.

Sasuke had cut off one of her braids when she was sixteen, resulting in a rather unattractive haircut, and she’d been back to stealing his stuff and pushing him into their ridiculous arguments after only a few days. It might take a while, but she would be back to her starry-eyed stares and pushing him to the edge of reason eventually. 

He’d just looked back at his tablet when the bond that connected him to his oldest daughter snapped. The tablet fell from limp fingers and Mikoto gasped and grasped at her chest. Fugaku was already throwing the covers back and running for their bedroom door. He flung it open and sprinted down the hall, passing Sasuke and Itachi, who were heading in the same direction.

He didn’t pause at Mayu’s bedroom door. He went right through it, sending splinters of wood flying in all directions. There was resistance from her wards, but he pushed his own power against them and they shattered.

He stopped in the middle of her room, chest heaving, ignoring the sting from the backlash of breaking through her spells. It was empty. Itachi went to her window, but it was closed. No sign of a scuffle. Sasuke was stalking around, eyes glowing red. He was aware that more members of their pack were running towards them. They would have felt the loss of a bond and his rage and distress.

“She’s not dead,” he said in a gravelly voice. He knew what it felt like when a pack member died, and this wasn’t it. Instead of a hole where she should be, she was just...gone. As though she’d never been there. Of course, if she died now that the bonds were gone, he wouldn't know.

“Somebody could be blocking her. Witches?” Itachi’s asked and Sasuke’s hands fisted at his sides.

Mikoto and Chiasa were at the door and Chiasa was crying into her mother’s side. Fugaku heard footsteps on the stairs and then Shisui was easing around Chiasa and moving to stand next to Itachi.

“What is it? What happened to Mayu?”

Itachi just shook his head. “Let’s look around.”

Sasuke went to the closet and flung it open and Itachi moved to her drawers. He froze after opening a few. “Somebody took her things.”

“Her favorite boots and jacket are gone,” Sasuke said from the closet.

Chiasa edged into the room and looked over at the small table by the door. “Her - her fanny pack is gone. She never goes anywhere without it.”

Disbelief moved through Fugaku, but he forced himself to hide his dismay when more pack members crowded into the hall.

“So either she left of her own accord, or somebody wants us to think she did,” Shisui murmured. “There’s only a handful of people who could have successfully gotten her out without us noticing.”

Fugaku closed his eyes in an attempt to control his temper. “Find her,” he said in a low, deadly tone. Everybody around him froze, sensing that he was close to snapping.

“You heard him,” Itachi said in the calm tone that everybody in the pack knew to be terrified of. “I don’t care if we have to tear this whole town apart, but we will find her. Go!”

Their pack members didn’t waste any time scrambling to do as they were told. The resulting silence was broken by the buzzing of a phone. It was Itachi's and he pulled it out of his pocket with efficient motions. He paused when he glanced at the screen. “It’s Leon Heartchild.”

“Answer it,” Fugaku said, dread building.

Itachi’s thumb swiped across the screen before he put it to his ear. “Yes?”

“This is a courtesy call. Mayu requested admittance to my pack and I granted it to her. She is now under my purview.”

The call disconnected. Fugaku was frozen in disbelief. Mayu had left the pack of her own accord. Leon Heartchild wouldn't lie about that, and he wouldn't force her. The man lived and breathed his moral code. The image of Mayu curled up on the floor last night flashed in his mind.

His daughter was gone. She was without a real pack, and Fugaku knew she was in some sort of trouble, that much was obvious. It was the sound of Mikoto’s muffled sob that broke him from his stupor.

He moved over to the bed and rested a hand on Mayu's pillow. Her room smelled strongly of her and something ugly twisted in his chest.

What had he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear next chapter is all ShikaMayu adorableness.
> 
> *Runs away*


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mayu decides the perfect first date is to go steal treasure from a dragon, and Shikamaru is trying really hard to keep his distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Okay, here's a more lighthearted chapter. :)
> 
> For more happy feelings, check out this amazing fanart of [Leon Heartchild](https://sta.sh/01wz90cjdfq8) and [Mayu](https://sta.sh/087uwyaaqp5) by [Iliana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lliania/pseuds/lliania)!

Shikamaru ran a rag over the bar despite having cleaned it twice already. It was a Monday evening and the club was practically empty. Ino was sitting on one of the barstools reading something on her phone and Shikamaru was ignoring his mother’s pointed looks every time she walked past him.

Yeah, he knew he wasn’t supposed to be working that day, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. He’d grown tired of staring at his walls and trying to keep his mind off of Mayu. Shikamaru had even driven to the next town over to pay for an escort to feed off of - one of those expensive ones who wouldn’t tell anybody he just took a few sips before leaving. No sex, no eye contact, only perfunctory conversation.

For once, it hadn’t been difficult to resist taking it further. Shikamaru hated to admit it, but there was only one person he wanted right now.

And she’d just walked into the bar.

She was wearing the same clothes she had been in when they met. They were just as tight as he remembered. Her hair was pulled back and she practically bounced through the door, eyes wide and excited. He thought she looked a little tired, but then she’d had an active couple of days if the rumors were to be believed. Shikamaru always tried not to believe rumors.

She caught sight of Shikaku, who was sitting at a table with Chouji and Ino’s fathers, and hurried over to him. Shikamaru concentrated so that he could listen in on their conversation.

“Mr. Nara, sir, hi! How are you? You know, I read your book, did I tell you that? The one about transformative species and -”

“Hello, Mayu.” Shikaku was lounging in his seat, one arm laying across the back of the empty chair next to him. Despite his bored exterior, Shikamaru could tell he was amused.

“You remember me!” She clasped her hands under her chin and rocked forward on to her toes. “Did you get the money for the floor? Sorry about that, Shisui can be so dramatic.”

Inoichi snorted into his beer. “He’s an Uchiha. They’re all dramatic.”

Shikamaru frowned when Mayu’s smile faltered. She looked so sad that he had to resist the urge to go over there and embrace her. What was wrong with him?

“Oh, yeah. Well, I guess that’s true,” she said, subdued. “Um, it was nice seeing you again, Mr. Nara. I’m actually here to talk to Shikamaru.”

Shikaku waved her away, but he watched her go with narrowed eyes. Maybe some of those rumors weren’t so off base, after all. Her eyes fell on him, and he fumbled the bucket of cherries he’d been about to put into the olive bar, swearing when some of the red juice landed on his boots.

He’d just succeeded in getting the bucket into place when she hopped on the stool next to Ino. “Hi,” she said.

“Hey.” He leaned forward and put his forearms on the bar. She copied the motion, and as a result, their faces were only about half a foot apart, though his was a few inches above hers. “Need a drink?”

She smiled at him, full and bright, and shook her head. The way her ponytail swung back and forth with the motion was adorable. “No, thanks. I actually have to go on a job later.”

Ino had lowered her phone and was watching them with a calculating expression. Shikamaru wanted to close the distance between him and Mayu just as much as he wanted to turn and flee the bar. Instead of doing either, he stayed where he was, frozen in place by the way her eyes stared up into his.

“You’re on a case?”

“Oh,” Mayu looked down and swallowed, and her voice was low and sad. “No. I’m not - I’m not on the force anymore. I, uh, I left the pack.”

Ino leaned forward, as eager for gossip as she always was. Shikamaru turned a glare on her and tipped his chin in an obvious bid to leave. She sighed dramatically but turned and jumped off the stool before flouncing over to a pool table that Sai and his team had commandeered.

When he looked back at Mayu, a small smile was playing around her lips. “You two are good friends.”

Shikamaru leaned back and grabbed his rag to clean the already gleaming bar for the tenth time that evening. “She’s annoying, but yeah. She and Chouji are my best friends.”

Mayu rested her chin in her hand and tilted her head to the side. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I left the pack?”

Shikamaru shrugged. “If you want to tell me, you can, but I won’t push.” He hesitated before asking the question he really wanted to know the answer to. “I heard you joined up with Leon Heartchild.”

“Yeah. We’ve been friends for years, and he’s scary enough to keep the wolves off my back. He did it as a favor, really, until I figure out something more permanent.”

Shikamaru’s shoulders released tension they’d been holding since Ino had texted him the juicy gossip that morning while they both got ready to sleep the day away. “So you two didn’t elope.”

Mayu’s laughter rang across the bar, drawing the attention of a few guys at a booth across the room. “No. Is that what people are saying? God, Leon and marriage are not two words that belong in the same sentence. I mean, we used to date, but we decided to be just friends years ago.”

“Why’s that?” Shikamaru really needed to get ahold of his mouth. Why did he care about Mayu’s dating life? Maybe her insanity was catching.

“Well,” she drew out the word while she looked down at the bar and started drawing random patterns on it with her finger. “I guess we both figured out that it wasn’t going to go anywhere further than dating. Leon was okay with that, obviously, and I was, too, for a while. But then I just...I wanted either more or less. It felt like limbo, and I think we both cared too much about each other in the end to let it become toxic.”

He blinked at her surprisingly-rational answer, and she laughed at whatever his expression was doing. “I’m not completely without rational thought, despite what Torii says.”

He stared at the line of her throat when she tipped her head to the side, and his gums tingled. Shikamaru didn’t just want to drink from her, though. He wanted to make her laugh like that again, maybe while he was inside her. When she threw her head back, he could lean down and press his fangs into her flesh and -

Mayu cleared her throat, and Shikamaru was jolted from his fantasy. He brought his eyes back up to her face, which was red. Her nostrils were flared as she scented the air and her pupils had expanded. They continued to stare at each other and he listened to the sound of her heartbeat picking up, the rush of blood through her veins.

Ino squealed, breaking the moment, and Shikamaru realized with a jolt that they were leaning across the bar towards each other again. He jerked back. Across the club, Ino was holding her hands up in victory over sinking three balls in a row while Sai smiled at her, indulgent.

Shikamaru brought his rag to the bar and started scrubbing with undivided focus. He couldn’t keep interacting with Mayu. Five minutes around her and he was closer to giving in to his baser instincts than he had been for years. He was just about to make an excuse - any excuse - to call Ino over to watch the bar so he could make his escape when Mayu spoke.

“I, uh, I’m actually here to see if you’d be interested in doing that job with me.”

Shikamaru glanced at her, intrigued despite himself. “What kind of job is it?”

“A one-off merc job.”

“You’re not a mercenary.”

Mayu scowled, which was cuter than it should be. “Yeah, well, I’m kinda between real jobs right now and Leon is an alpha who does not appreciate idle hands. So I went to the Guild and contracted out for one.”

“You already contracted out? It’s been a day - I’m sure Heartchild didn’t expect you to run out into danger immediately.”

“Please, if he came home from work and found me lounging around, he’d have things to say. It was either this or housework.” She wrinkled her nose. Shikamaru tried and failed not to find it adorable.

“So what does that have to do with me? I’m not actually in the business, I was just helping Torii out.”

Mayu flapped a hand dismissively. “Yeah, but you used to be. This is only a level three job, but it’s a two-person one. I figured I could get Torii to help, but he’s two towns away on a different job.”

 _Only_ level three? Was she crazy (yes, he already knew the answer to that)? There were four levels, and the third was the second highest rating.

He sighed and leaned against the bar. “You took the contract before you had a partner?”

She widened her eyes and his annoyance faded. “I really thought I could find someone, but Sakura is in the middle of a healing, and Kiba and Hinata aren’t allowed to hang out with me for a month.”

Shikamaru looked away. “I’m sorry, I can’t. Just turn the contract back in. It’ll be a mark on your record, but just don’t get into any other trouble and you’ll be fine.”

They both paused at his words. Yeah, okay, he hadn’t thought that advice through.

“Oh.” She slumped and ran her thumbnail along the edge of the bar. “I guess you have to work, huh?”

He only grunted in response because technically he didn’t _have_ to work that night. He just wasn’t willing to test his resolve by spending more time with Mayu. Plus, he was pretty sure all of Mayu’s missions turned out similarly to the berserk troll situation.

“What was the job, anyway?” he asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

“Oh! Uh, retrieval. Some ancient scroll that was stolen from the Siren Music Academy on Twelfth Street by a guy that runs a few live music joints on Bleeker. Not a big deal.”

“Some guy on Bleeker...are you talking about Yuro Takahani?”

“Oh? You know him? Daddy -” she paused and her face twisted before she continued, “-he was always trying to pin something on him, but couldn’t. The guy’s a bit of a creep, honestly, but he sure does know good music.”

Mayu glanced over at a clock above the wall. “I’ve got to go. The deadline for the job is tomorrow, and the place they think this scroll is at is always so crowded. You probably know it - Strings? I need to get my name on the list. Anyway. Bye, Shikamaru!” She hopped off the stool and her cheer was so obviously faked that it made his heart ache.

“Wait! You’re taking the job? What about a partner?”

Mayu shrugged. “I’ll try to sneak Hinata out of her house. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure me and Tulip can handle it.”

“Tulip?”

She smiled at him and her eyes flashed silver. “My wolf. She says hi, and that you look good in green.”

He glanced down at his shirt. When he looked back up, she was already across the bar and slipping out the door. He barely resisted the urge to go after her.

His father waited a whole five minutes before wandering over. Shikamaru was crouched down, moving pint glasses from a crate to a shelf. Truly riveting work. He was currently trying to convince himself that Mayu was a grown woman who could take care of herself. She’d be fine.

“I didn’t know you were friends with the Uchiha girl.”

The sounds of glass clinking together made him wince when he shoved one into an empty spot with too much force. “We’re not. I barely know her. She’s Torii’s friend, though.”

“Couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Uh huh.”

“I’m surprised she’s even up and about. Switching packs is no small thing, magically or psychologically. I wonder if she’s thinking straight.”

Shikamaru closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the shelf. “If you’re so worried, why don’t you volunteer to help?”

“Eh, you know these bones are too old.” There was nothing frail about Shikaku and they both knew it, but Shikamaru didn’t feel like getting into an argument over it. “Plus, I’ve got the head of the Uptown Brownie Union coming in to meet tonight. Can’t miss it unless we want to do our own cleaning.”

“What do you care, anyway?” Shikamaru snapped. He did not want to get sucked into Mayu’s orbit. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull himself back out.

Shikamaru stood and leaned back against the bar. He crossed his arms over his chest and ignored Shikaku’s knowing expression.

“I don’t, not much anyway. But I’m pretty sure you do. At the very least, I assume Torii would be upset if he came back to town and discovered something had happened to her, despite his vehement disapproval of her overall personality and decision making skills.”

“She said she was going to get Hinata Hyuuga. She’s plenty powerful enough to act as backup.”

Shikaku just hummed and nodded. ‘You’re probably right.”

Shikamaru spent the next hour and a half trying to pretend that he wasn’t an anxious mess. He’d heard rumors of the things Yuro Takahani did to people who crossed him. He was fairly small-time, but he was still a dragon, and that scroll was now part of his hoard.

“Dammit,” he muttered and turned to Ino. “I’m leaving.”

“About time. You’re not even on the schedule. It’s pretty pathetic -”

Shikamaru ignored her and headed out the back door. He didn’t pause, the itchiness that had been building under his skin growing more pronounced. If something happened to her, he’d be...well, he wasn’t sure what he’d be. He barely knew her, after all. It wasn’t like her absence would change anything.

Five minutes later he was racing down the side streets of Konoha on his motorcycle, weaving in and out of traffic and ignoring the annoyed honks and yells he was garnering. He found parking after circling the block twice. Even with a bike, finding a place to park downtown even on a Monday evening was tough.

The sidewalks were full of groups of people dressed for a night out and music filtered out of various venues. Shikamaru nodded to a few bouncers he recognized but didn’t stop to chat. When he got to Strings, there was a line to get in halfway around the block.

Strings was a live music joint that tended to skew towards the more well-to-do of Konoha. It was open mic night, which was always popular in this particular venue. Shikamaru was just starting to wonder how he was going to get in when he saw Mayu at the front of the line talking to the bouncer.

She was wearing thigh-high leather boots and a black leather jacket over her working clothes and had added dark lipstick and eyeshadow. The additions hid the fact that the clothes she had on underneath were obviously meant for more than casual wear. They had the annoying side effect of making her even sexier than usual.

She was also alone, which meant there was no getting out of this unless he wanted to worry himself sick all night. He sighed and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets before walking past the others in line to stand next to her.

“Aw, Bart, I really wanna play. Can’t you please get me on the list? Please?” Her eyes were wide and the bouncer, whom Shikamaru recognized as one of the submissive wolves in the Konoha pack, wavered.

Shikamaru glanced down at the black instrument case at Mayu’s feet. He thought it might be for a violin or a fiddle.  “I...fine. Alright, go in, and tell them I said you need to be on the list.”

Mayu beamed and clapped. “Yay! Bart, I say this in all seriousness, you’re one of the few wolves I can actually stand to be around.”

His demeanor softened into a smile as he reached for the rope. “Gee, thanks, Mayu. That wasn’t backhanded at all.”

Shikamaru stepped forward and put a light hand on Mayu’s arm, ignoring the jolt it sent through him. Maybe his family was right and he really did need to get laid. This was just pathetic.

She looked over at him. “Shikamaru! What are you doing here? I thought that you said you were, uh, too busy to come out tonight.” Her eyes darted around them and she leaned forward to say the last bit in a low tone.

Shikamaru ignored Bart’s interested gaze and shrugged. “I decided to come watch you play, after all. Ino’s covering the bar.”

Her smile made his stomach turn uncomfortably and he cleared his throat. “That’s great. I was honestly a little nervous to do it myself.” He knew she meant the job, not playing music, and was glad he’d decided to come. She leaned down and picked up the instrument.

A few people groaned when they both headed inside after bypassing the line and Mayu winked and strutted past them. Shikamaru failed to keep his eyes from gluing themselves to her swaying hips. Her very perfectly proportioned hips and nicely curved ass. Damn, he hated those pants. And those boots. The whole outfit, really.

He slumped and followed her through the bar. It was decorated in understated but expensive woods and fabrics. There was a stage on one end with a small bit of floor space left clear right in front of it. Tables were set up further back, and a long bar dominated one of the other walls.

He noted exit points and anybody who was an employee. Mayu slowed until he was next to her and leaned against him so she could whisper in his ear. To anybody else, it would look like an intimate moment between two people, but her words were calm and analytical.

“Notice the extra muscle? They’re obviously here for more than crowd control. The vault is downstairs. There’s access to the hallway that leads to the stairs from the backroom, which is impossible to get to without invitation. Yuro invites his favorite musicians and their parties back with him at the end of the night. I’m hoping that will include us. Then we’ll slip out once he becomes distracted by the others and make our way downstairs.”

Shikamaru wrapped his arm around her (for show, nothing else, honestly) and leaned down to nuzzle behind her ear. He didn’t miss the way she shivered and pressed against him, and his stomach clenched pleasantly.

She smelled even better up close, and he remembered what it felt like to have her against him while she was wearing nothing at all. His voice was husky when he spoke, despite his best efforts to remain unaffected. “Sounds good. My shadows will get us there undetected once we’re past the wards.”

Mayu turned and beamed up at him. “You Nara are so cool.”

He tried his best not to look too pleased by that, but her giggle indicated that he had failed. “So,” he said in a louder voice when they approached the bar, “How’d you convince Bart to let you in? I thought the wolves weren’t happy with you.”

Mayu smiled at the small pixie that flitted in front of them to get their order. “A Moon Glow for me, please.” She glanced at Shikamaru.

“The seasonal stout.”

The pixie flared once in acknowledgment before flying over to her partner, a huge druid with a shaved head and biceps as big around as Shikamaru’s thigh. She fluttered by his ear and he nodded before turning to start getting their drinks.

“It’s true the wolves aren’t happy with me, but they still want me to join their pack. So their Alpha basically told them to charm me where they can.”

Shikamaru snorted. “Miguel wasn’t very charming when he saw you at Crimson.”

“Well, that’s just Miguel. He hates me and wants to sleep with me all at the same time. The second part is just another version of his fantasy where he makes me submit.” She scoffed and threw some money on the bar along with a honey packet when the bartender slid their drinks down. The pixie made a high-pitched squeal of delight and dove for the honey. The druid smiled and nodded at Mayu and she tipped her beer at him.

“That’s...disturbing.”

Mayu took a drink, then headed towards the stage, where the emcee, a young-ish man with hair dyed green, was talking in a low tone to a man holding a guitar. “Daddy says it’s a leadership issue. If the alpha is lacking control or overly cruel, then the more malleable members of his pack will be, too.”

She turned her attention to the emcee. “Hey! Bart at the front told me I should tell you to add me to the list,” she said when he looked up at her. She held up her case and he eyed her with obvious wariness.

“You any good? Mr. Takahani gets...upset when subpar people make it on the list.”

Mayu rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m good enough not to get you and Bart fired or myself blacklisted from his bars.”

“Alright. I’ve got a slot at eleven. You’ll need to play for fifteen minutes. If you don’t have enough material let me know now.”

“That’s fine.”

The emcee still seemed less than convinced, but he just shrugged. “Fine. Name?”

“Mayu Uchiha.”

His pencil jerked across the page and he looked up, wide-eyed. “R-right. Okay. You’re all set, Ms. Uchiha.”

Her smile was tight when she turned away and he saw a slight tremor in her hand. It had to sting, the reminders of her pack. Shikamaru wanted to ask what had happened but held back - he knew he hated it when people brought up Jen or tried to get details about her death from him.

They found a table to the side and a little away from the stage and sat. It was nine-thirty, so they had some time to kill. Shikamaru took a drink of his beer. Mayu was watching him steadily and her expression was unreadable.

He cleared his throat and motioned towards her case. “Violin?”

She glanced at it, then looked down at her beer and started picking at the label. “Yeah.”

Shikamaru frowned at her sudden reticence. “How long have you played?”

“Oh. Um. I guess since I was ten? Yeah, that’s right. Mom thought I needed an outlet for my creativity that didn’t involve turning myself and coven members into mice.”

Shikamaru choked. “What?”

Mayu sniffed and looked to the side. “I barely messed up the incantation. It was one tiny mispronunciation. You’d think I’d killed us all by Tsunade’s reaction.”

Shikamaru couldn’t help his small smile at her sulking. “Tsunade was involved?”

“Yeah, nobody else could reverse it, which is why we were stuck that way for a week. They had to wait for her to travel from India or something.”

“A _week?”_

“Yes. It was horribly dull. The only break in the monotony was when Hinata’s dad came every day to just sit and hold her in his hand and glare at me. Tsunade threatened to have me and Tulip kicked out of the coven! You’d think she’d have been grateful since it’s how she met her apprentice.”

Shikamaru was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Mayu had turned the firstborn of Hiashi Hyuuga into a mouse. “Sakura Haruno was involved?”

Mayu took a drink. “Well, yeah, she was one of the mice.”

How was this girl even still _alive?_

“I got super bored - like I said, being a mouse is dull - and tried to climb out of the little enclosure Kakashi made us. I, uh, fell and broke my leg. Sakura was healing me while in mouse-form when Tsunade showed up. That’s how she discovered how awesome Sakura was and took her on as an apprentice. Really, Konoha owes me for finding a reason to get her to stick around for a few years.”

“Konoha owes you for...turning two children into mice.”

“Well, I was a mouse, too! Honestly, everyone always makes that face. It was an _accident.”_

Shikamaru took a drink to hide his smile. “Right. So you play the violin because your mother was hoping it would distract you from trying spells you shouldn’t.”

 _“No,_ she wanted to funnel my creativity into...okay, yes, fine, that’s why I play the violin.”

They met each other’s gazes and a moment later they both laughed. Shikamaru shook his head. “Well, it sounds like you were a terror.”

“Yeah. Mom was always really patient with me, though.” Her face fell.

Shikamaru decided he hated it when she looked sad and struggled to find a change of subject. “I was the opposite.”

Mayu looked up, interested. “Oh yeah? Like, you were a goody-two-shoes, or what?”

He snorted. “Nah, I drove my mom nuts, but it was because I refused to put effort into anything _._ The natural-born son of Shikaku Nara and she couldn’t even get me to go to school.”

Mayu laughed. “You sound like you were so cute.”

“According to Ino, I was the opposite of cute. I drove her crazy.”

The pixie came by their table and they ordered more beer along with some overpriced appetizers for Mayu. The first band of the night went up and by the fifth, the bar was full to bursting. They were all amateurs, sure, but they were good.

They drank enough beers not to look suspicious but didn’t get drunk since they had to break into a vault later. Shikamaru somehow ended up telling her embarrassing stories about Torii’s adolescence, much to her delight.

When they called her name to go up and play, she was leaned over the table laughing and the corners of her eyes had tears in them. “He did not try to seduce the officer! You’re lying.”

“Swear to god, I am telling the truth.” He held up a hand as though placing it on a bible grinned. “Go on, the emcee is glaring at you.”

She stood and left her jacket on the chair, though he noticed she still had her fanny pack on her. Mayu leaped onto the stage amidst drunken cheers and waved before bending down to open her violin case. Shikamaru wasn’t the only one who watched the motion with a little too much interest.

When she stood up she had a violin in her hand and she took a moment to tune it. Shikamaru didn’t know a lot about musical instruments, but hers gleamed in the light and a few of the musicians made sounds of appreciation. He supposed that if her mother had bought it, it was probably as high end as it got.

He leaned back in his seat and let his eyes wander across her face, which looked soft in the dim lighting of the bar. In a world full of creatures who used beauty to survive, trap, and kill, she wasn’t especially striking. But she was attractive and, he had to admit, had the type of curves he could appreciate.

Shikamaru knew she was trouble, but it was impossible not to be drawn to her. He certainly shouldn’t be trying so hard to make her laugh, or helping her steal from dragons.

She stepped up to the microphone, her violin in one hand and the bow in the other. “Hello,” she said and smiled when a chorus of hellos answered. “I’m Mayu Uchiha. I hope you enjoy the show, and if you don’t,” she shrugged, “eh.”

A few snickers went up and Shikamaru smiled slightly. She tucked the violin under her chin and brought the bow to hover above the instrument. For a long second, she stood there, eyes closed, poised, before she lowered the bow and moved it across the strings.

The first notes she played were long and drawn out and the crowd quieted. Her movements sped up, but the song itself was slow and mournful and the people around her sobered. Shikamaru had listened to a lot of music in his life - it was part of being two hundred years old - so he could tell that she was good. The notes were clear and beautiful and the song never stuttered.

He changed his mind as he watched her play. She wasn’t just attractive. She was alluring and thoroughly distracting. Shikamaru wanted to storm up on the stage and drag her off somewhere that they could be alone. He wanted to kiss the lines of concentration that had formed between her brows. And then he wanted to kiss her everywhere else.

Somebody sighed next to him and Shikamaru glanced around. The crowd was certainly affected by the haunting notes she was playing. Shikamaru didn’t recognize the song, but then it wasn’t his type of music.

She played for a few more minutes before the song ended. Silence fell as the last notes echoed across the room. Mayu leaned forward and her voice was low and husky when she spoke. Shikamaru felt a shiver go up his spine and his fingers tightened on his glass.

“Well, now that I have your attention.” She brought her bow back up and started playing a jaunty tune, her whole body moving as she played, eyes bright. The crowd came out of their hushed reverence and there were a few whoops from enthusiastic listeners.

A few minutes later she had a small group of people doing a drunken approximation of river dancing in front of the stage. She looked up and grinned when she saw Shikamaru was looking at her. He raised his glass and her smile turned into something shy before she brought her attention back to the crowd. His skin tingled with the awareness that it was him that pulled that reaction from her.

The next song she played was upbeat, too, and by the time it was over there were over a dozen people weaving around each other, hopping up and down and spinning and sloshing their drinks everywhere. Her last song was calmer, not as sad as the first, but still heart-wrenching. When she finished, there was raucous applause.

Mayu bowed before turning and putting the violin away. She snapped the case shut, then jumped off the stage and started weaving her way towards him. She was stopped a few times by people complimenting her set, but she made it back to him after only a few minutes.

She plopped down in her seat and lifted her beer, draining it in a few gulps. Her cheeks were red and she was smiling so widely that her nose crinkled. “That was so fun!”

“You were good,” he said. “Really good.”

She bit her lip and her already-flushed cheeks gained more color. “Oh, well. Hopefully, Yoru thinks so.”

“He will. You’ve got it in the bag.”

“I hope so. If not, plan B is pretty insane,” she mused and Shikamaru twitched. If _she_ said it was insane...

The pixie flitted over - she’d been extremely attentive, thanks to the honey packets Mayu kept pulling from her pack - and Mayu ordered some fries. She pulled out her phone and huffed at it before quickly typing something and tucking it away.

“Kiba is so annoying,” she muttered and then she was off on a monologue about all the annoying things he’d done to her in recent history. “I mean, even when we were sleeping together, he would be so blunt -”

Shikamaru jerked and his beer sloshed over his hand. “Wait - you two -”

Mayu froze and her eyes darted from side to side. Her laugh sounded nervous. “What? Kiba? I mean, we tried to date, but, uh...like I said, he’s awesome but annoying.”

Shikamaru drummed his fingers on the table. Right, of course, Mayu had a dating history (how could she not?) and he couldn’t be a disaster about it every time, especially since the two of them were never going to be together. He needed to make sure he never saw her again after this. Maybe he could move to Texas. His Uncle Ensui lived in Austin and would probably take him in.

Of course, the person who promised to kill him if he went feral so his dad wouldn’t have to lived here in Konoha. Leon Heartchild might have been one of the two people Shikamaru had recently decided he hated for totally mature reasons, but he wouldn’t back out of his promise, and he’d keep anybody else from getting caught up in the drama.

Shikamaru took a sulky sip of beer and ignored Mayu’s imploring look. “So,” she said after a moment. “You really liked it?”

He glanced over at her hopeful expression. “Yeah. You’re talented.”

She smiled and leaned forward, but a chair slamming down next to them pulled their attention to Miguel, who had apparently decided to join them at their table. Mayu’s nose wrinkled. “Ugh, what are you doing here? Wait, are you really so pathetic that you have your pack members call when they spot me? Is that why you were at Crimson? And why you like the same coffee shop as me?”

Miguel leaned back and crossed his arms, probably in an attempt to draw Mayu’s attention to his biceps. They were on display thanks to the tight black t-shirt he was wearing. Mayu just looked away from him dismissively, though he had drawn the attention of quite a few other women around them.

“Mayu. I heard you’re a free agent. My alpha wants to talk to you.”

Shikamaru stiffened and Mayu turned a glare on Miguel. In the background, a spunky country band started playing and there were already people dancing enthusiastically to their music. “I have an alpha. If Alpha Nomaka wants to talk to me, he can take it up with Leon.”

Miguel scoffed. “Everybody knows Heartchild prefers to play it alone. As soon as he’s tired of fucking you -”

Shikamaru leaned forward and Miguel froze when he felt his shadows start to creep up his legs. “Careful, Miguel, or you might find yourself in a bit of a bind.”

Miguel glowered at him and Mayu giggled at his lame joke. Just when he thought she couldn't get any cuter. “We’re not in your mommy’s club anymore, Nara. You don’t have your Yamanaka and Akimichi nannies to keep you from getting your ass kicked.”

Shikamaru just hummed and took a drink of beer. Mayu scoffed and Miguel glanced over at her. “Please, like you could beat him in a fair fight.”

Miguel’s smile was small and mean. “It’s common knowledge he does dry feedings. I’m surprised he’s not feral at this point, but I doubt he’s at full strength either way. He’s not what he once was.”

Shikamaru didn’t react, but he did notice that Mayu didn’t look surprised. He wondered if she’d asked around about him. “The only feral thing at this table is you, Miguel. Find somewhere else to sit, we were having a nice time until you showed up.”

Mayu turned away from him and Shikamaru released his shadows. Miguel’s eyes flashed silver and he leaned over into Shikamaru’s space. “I’d warn you off my girl -”

“Ex _cuse_ you, I am not your anything -”

“But I don’t have to, do I?” Shikamaru grimaced. Miguel must have eaten blue cheese recently because his breath smelled awful. “The poor little vampire is too _heartbroken_ by his dead wife to - “

Shikamaru stood so fast his chair tipped over and Miguel got to his feet and stepped closer to him. “What? Don’t like me talking about her?”

“Miguel, stop it,” Mayu snapped from where she was still sitting. “You really want to start something with the Nara, you moron?”

Shikamaru’s hand clenched into a fist at his side. “You need to back off, Miguel.” His voice was steady, despite the urge to rip his throat out with his bare hands.

“I suppose I’d feel guilty if I got my mate killed, too.”

The air left Shikamaru in a rush, shame and rage rushing through him. He knew his anguish was clear on his face - it always was when the subject of how Jen died came up. Before he could reply, Mayu slammed her hands on the table and stood.

Both he and Miguel felt the wave of her magic just before she leaned forward, eyes flashing, and roared. It was so loud it drowned the music out and the musicians stopped playing and stumbled back. Their guitarist tripped over the drum set and disappeared behind it in a flailing of limbs. People scrambled to back away from the enraged werewolf and Miguel cringed back before he could stop himself.

By the time the sound faded her teeth had elongated and she was clawing gouges into the wood of the table. She looked two seconds away from leaping across the table and killing Miguel. Shikamaru didn’t think there was a person in the place who doubted she could do it.

The tension was broken when a short man in an impeccable black suit with a crisp white shirt beneath it appeared next to them. His hair was slicked back and his goatee was perfectly groomed. Despite his average looks and diminutive stature, he radiated power. Yoru Takahani had arrived, and he looked less than impressed.

“Ms. Uchiha, please control yourself.” Mayu’s eyes narrowed and Shikamaru leaned across the table to put a hand on her arm. She glanced down at it, then up at his face. He met her gaze and a second later she breathed in shakily. By the time she let it out her fingers and teeth were in their human form again.

Takahani nodded once in approval before turning to Miguel. “Mr. Callow. Are you harassing one of my musicians? You know I hate it when things interfere with my livelihood.”

“She just did open mike, she’s not one of your musicians,” Miguel said, tone more petulant than Shikamaru would personally recommend when talking to a dragon.

One elegant brow rose. “Did you not see her play on my stage? Did you miss the way my patrons enjoyed her music? I assure you, right now, she most certainly is one of mine, so I suggest you move along. Unless you’d rather I took it up with your alpha?”

Mayu had crossed her arms over her chest and sent Miguel a smug look. Shikamaru sighed. Did she have to egg on every aggressive creature she came across?

Miguel deflated. “No, sir,” he muttered.

“Okay, then. There’s plenty of space over by the bar. Shoo.”

Mayu snickered when Takahani lifted an elegant hand and flicked his fingers towards Miguel dismissively. His eyes flashed but he turned and stalked away from the table without further argument. Mayu stuck her tongue out him when he looked back and his hands fisted at his sides. Shikamaru dropped his forehead into the palm of his hand. A moment later the band started back up, their guitarist apparently unharmed.

Takahani turned his attention back to them. “Do you mind if I sit?” He motioned towards Miguel’s abandoned chair.

Mayu clapped her hands together. “I’ve never spoken to a dragon before!”

Shikamaru turned and picked up his chair so he didn’t have to see Takahani’s reaction to that. Considering he was the only dragon within the city limits, it wasn’t surprising. They didn’t like to share territory.

He was still reeling from Miguel’s words and Mayu’s near-loss of control. He couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something. The Uchiha were known for their rock-solid control, even their one non-cat member. He supposed she could still be off-balance from the pack change. Wolves were notoriously ruled by their emotions, after all.

By the time he had his chair in place and was sitting, Mayu was leaning across the table and studying Takahani closely. “Why are you glamoured? Is it because you have scales? I thought your human forms were -”

Shikamaru looked at the ceiling. Asking why somebody was glamoured was like begging to get your ass kicked. Takahani tilted his head to the side. “Ah. My human form tends to unsettle people. I prefer a more understated look.”

Mayu brightened. “Under the radar, yeah, I get that.”

Takahani looked less than convinced by that statement and Shikamaru took a drink of his beer. It had sloshed all over the table when Mayu slammed her hands down on it, but still had some liquid left in the bottom.

“It is useful,” he said diplomatically. “I invited your brother to come over here with me, but he declined.”

Mayu froze and her eyes widened. “My - my brother is here?”

Takahani’s expression was calculating. “He was. The eldest. He stayed until your set was over and then left.”

“Oh.” Mayu rolled her beer bottle between her palms. “I guess somebody told him I was on the list.”

“Most likely. Your first song seemed to hit him particularly hard.”

“It - it’s his favorite,” she said in a small voice. “I play it whenever he’s hurt. He - hey!” She straightened and pointed at him. “Stop it!”

Shikamaru blinked rapidly when he realized what was happening. The relaxed haze he’d been falling into lifted. Takahani had been attempting to hypnotize them. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and the shadows being cast by their beer bottles and glasses twisted around the table.

Takahani raised his hands. “Please, I was only attempting to relax you.”

“More like you were trying to get good gossip,” Mayu said, but she didn't sound overly upset. Because she didn't have a survival instinct, apparently. Her face lit up. “How did you do that, anyway? Is it just like, a natural thing, like my howls and roar, or -”

“I’m afraid that’s not something I can discuss,” Takahani said, but he seemed more amused than upset by her intrusive questions. Shikamaru had the uncomfortable feeling that they were no more than a couple of amusing mice to his cat-like self.

“Oh.” Mayu stuck her lip out and Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She straightened. “Can you breathe fire for us? _Please?”_

“Mayu -” Shikamaru hissed, but to his surprise, Takahani threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh, you are a fearless little thing. I’d very much like it if you joined me in the back after the last set for a little after party.”

Mayu’s eyes narrowed. “Will there be fire-breathing?”

“Oh, darling.” Takahani leaned forward, and his smile was wicked. “You should sincerely hope not.”

Shikamaru stiffened and Mayu sighed dramatically when Takahani stood. He buttoned his suit jacket and tugged on his sleeves to straighten them before dropping two red cards on the table. “I do hope to see you there.”

Mayu beamed and scooped them up. “Oh, we’ll be there.”

Shikamaru regretted everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an FYI, I'm going on hiatus for everything except the Diplomats (which is written and just needs to be posted) until December or possibly even January depending on how crazy the Holiday season gets. I've got travel and other projects and NaNoWriMo...basically a lot of things! So, this will be the last chapter for a few months. 
> 
> When I come back, though, I'll begin posting a new project I've been working on to make up for it! I'll miss you all, but will still be keeping an eye on comments if you just want to say 'hi.' :)


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